Between the Cracks
by PandorazChaos
Summary: Two unlikely people are brought together with a strange twist of fate: Trafalgar Law is intrigued by the young girl found buried on a winter island. He decides she is useful enough to add to his crew. However, by getting involved with this girl Law just might have gotten himself into more than he bargained for...Law x OC (Leila) Disclaimer: Rated M for romance scenes
1. Prologue: Alone

_Falling between the cracks,  
I have lost who I am.  
My name, my identity,  
Has long been overthrown.  
But I do remember,  
That on an unknown island is where I was born,  
And by the other children,  
I was met with fear and scorn.  
"A devil's child,"  
Is what they cried,  
As they disappeared,  
Deep into the night;  
One by one,  
They left me behind.  
In this world,  
I have been forsaken,  
And I am alone,  
Yet you still called out to me anyways.  
"Who are you?" is what you asked.  
And for your question,  
I found only one reply:  
I am the pieces,  
Found between the cracks,  
Of a broken and lonely heart,  
That was left to die.  
I am the fragments,  
That were abandoned,  
By the cold, cruel world,  
That came to hate me.  
But when you heard my answer,  
You shook your head,  
With furious might.  
"From now on you are Leila,  
And you are my friend.  
That is who you are,  
So please never forget." _

-Inspired by a Tale of Six Trillion Years and One Night

* * *

**Prologue: Alone**

_The snow…is so cold. _

Icy wind harshly blew over the abandoned land, reshaping the soft mounds of snow that had piled up. The figure in the snow was easily pushed to the ground, unable to withstand the cruel gust of snow and ice. Trying hopelessly to find shelter the fragile figure tried once more to battle against the elements. Standing, stumbling, the human continued to force its exhausted body a few inches further; but the wilderness can be an unforgiving place. The wind continued to howl mercilessly and once again, the human was beaten to the frozen ground.

_The snow…feels so cold._

A small pile of icy flakes had already begun to accumulate on top of the body of the human as the blizzard continued to exert its rage. The naked trees had already submerged to its will, their branches violently being whipped from side to side. They bent in spectacular angles, dancing gracefully to the tune of their end before they were broken and fell lifelessly to the ground.

_I don't want to die here._

The thought was terrifying, a dark shadow lurking in the back of the young girl's mind. Weakly she tried once more to push her frozen body off the ground, but she had already lost all feeling in her limbs and could do no better than raise herself a few inches before her arms caved beneath her. The third impact of her body striking the ground sent tingles up her spine. Desolate and alone, she laid there.

How many minutes had it been? Or had it already been a few hours? Days? Her consciousness was starting to slip away. She tried to fight it one last time, but the lull of the darkness was too great. It was calling to her, slowly drawing her in.

_Come, rest now. I know you're tired. _

Her eyes flickered. Her body felt heavy and she had already lost all her energy.

_I can't rest yet. I still have so much to do._

The howling of the wind had suddenly transformed from a frozen shriek to a soft, alluring lullaby. The sweet tone was so intoxicating. It was calling, beckoning her to come join it. The falling snow began to blur, taking the appearance of a soft, enveloping blanket. It gently drifted down and wrapped around her body. The girl had already stopped resisting.

_Sleep human. Nothing else matters now. _

With a final flicker, her eyes slowly closed, and the darkness took her.

* * *

Marching through the snow, Bepo the polar bear easily navigated the snowy landscape. He looked around the island, searching for any distinguishing features or resources the island might have to offer. However, the land was desolate and appeared to be completely abandoned. Behind him stood a large, dark-skinned man with a fierce expression and a long mane of black hair. He towered over the land, his large frame making him impossible to not notice. Jean Bart was not happy to be out in the cold.

"Let's head back already. It's freezing out here," he called out to his partner a few meters ahead of him.

"We still need to finish searching the island," Bepo replied.

"Searching? Searching for what?! There's nothing but damn snow here!" Angrily, Bart turned around and began to walk back in the direction of the Heart Pirate's ship.

Bepo also began to follow suit, but hesitated for a moment. A distant scent had caught his attention. It was so faint that he had, even with his extremely sharp nose, been unable to detect it until now. He marched through the snow, trying to follow the scent through the icy landscape of the winter island. He continued looking for a long time before finally stopping before a large pile of snow. Unless his nose had deceived him, the scent was concentrated_ under _the pile of snow.

Bepo crouched down and began to dig through the pile, throwing fistfuls-or rather pawfuls-of it into the air. The snow seemed to glitter in the air before being carried off by the wind as Bepo continued to dig further and further into the snow. He continued until a small patch of brown was exposed. With a bit more effort Bepo realized that there was a backpack buried in the snow.

"What is a bag doing here? Is the island inhabited after all…?" Bepo wondered out loud. He grabbed and bag and tried to pull it out of the snow. Despite all his efforts though, the bag did not budge. Bepo continued to dig once more, wondering if the bag was attached to a rock buried under the snow. What he found when he finished completely shocked him.

Buried in the snow, with the bag strapped to her back, was a human girl.


	2. Battle at the Winter Island

Author's note: A translational Issue (I apologize in advance for this)

When watching One Piece in the original Japanese sub you see that Law often refers to others by adding on _"ya"_ to their name when he addresses them. This is especially frequent when he is talking to or mentioning Luffy. He typically says _mugiwara ya _instead of just _mugiwara._ However, in the subtitles _mugiwara ya_ is still translated as _straw hat _(so they don't acknowledge the _ya_ term)_._ I cannot ignore Law adding "ya" to people's names because I feel like it is such an important aspect of his personality and who he is as a character, but in English, _"ya"_ is roughly translated to _"Mr."_  
I want to clarify right now that _"ya"_ is not meant to be used as a respectful or courteous term. It's more for just addressing someone's position or title. Anyways, this is translational issue from Japanese to English and looking at the subtitles of the episodes unfortunately didn't help either. For that reason, in the story Law will add in "Mr." when talking sometimes, but once again, I want to emphasize that he is not saying it out of respect. I'm sorry if this bothers you or throws you off in advance. Anyways, onto the story!  
Ps. I've seen the money in One Piece spelled as "belly" but that honestly seems weird to me, so I'll use the spelling "belli."  
PPs. I've gone over this many times, but I still apologize for any spelling or grammar mistakes.

* * *

**Battle at the Winter Island**

Trafalgar Law was sitting inside his submarine ship enjoying a hot meal. The winter island they had docked at was cold, and the meal, although not the best tasting in the world, still helped to warm him up. It was a peaceful, relaxing time and a good break from the unpredictable seas of the Grand Line. He glanced off into the distance, thinking of nothing in particular, when the door to his room was violently flung open and loudly slammed against the wall with an ear curling _THUD!_

"Captain!" Shachi, an average-sized man with brown, shoulder length hair ran into the room, out of breath and gasping heavily. Law looked up from his meal with a frown, unhappy with the sudden disturbance.

"Mr. Shachi, what was so important that you needed to come in here without even knocking first," Law asked sharply. After taking a few deep breaths and regaining some of his composer, Shachi replied.

"I'm sorry Captain, but Bepo found a girl!"

"A…girl?" Law looked at his crew member in confusion, clearly wanting a further explanation.

"Yes Captain. There was a girl buried in the snow. Bepo found her and brought her back. Her body might be in trauma from being out in the cold for so long! She hasn't moved at all since she arrived at the sub."

"Take me to her," Law demanded with authority in his voice. He followed Shachi down the hall, trying to analyze the situation. He had assumed that the island was abandoned, but maybe his original assumption had been wrong. People were known to live in many different conditions in the Grand Line. The possibility that there was a small village hidden somewhere on the island, even one as desolate and empty as this one, would not be too unusual or surprising.

Shachi lead him to the desk of the ship, where Law saw Bepo and all the other crew members huddled around in a thinly stretched circle. Some men were peeling off their jackets and throwing them onto the ground. When the other men in the crew noticed his presence they all respectfully moved out of the way and made a pathway for Law to pass through. When Law reached the centre of the circle and looked down, the frown on his face deepened.

On the floor, covered with several jackets and barely breathing, was a deathly pale girl. The girl looked as though she had been out in cold for several days without shelter. Her brown hair still had icy flakes frozen to the long, thin strands that appeared to reach down to the girl's waist. Although the girl appeared to be uninjured, Law's years of medical expertise told him that if the girl's internal temperature had dropped, her life would be in danger.

"Take her inside to the infirmary. We need to get her warmed up," commanded Law. As his crew obediently jumped to the task, many questions were swirling around in Law's mind, but he would need to wait until she woke up if he wanted to find answers. As he walked back inside his sub, Law could have sworn he heard a voice humming the sad tune of a lullaby in the distance. When he turned around though, he didn't see anything but a few old, wooden trees swaying their bare branches the icy wind.

* * *

The sleeping girl shifted under the warm blankets and groaned quietly. She tried to clear her mind and ease back into a comfortable slumber, until she suddenly remembered the situation she was in and abruptly forced herself to sit up. The blankets fell onto the floor in a tumbled mess as she looked around and was surprised to find that she was no longer out in the snow, but rather in a plainly furnished room.

There was a simple wooden table, and a few bookshelves stacked with assorted medical books, to the side of the room. There were also another three beds across from her on the other side of the room, their sheets still neatly folded and untouched. The girl became cautious, unable to understand how she got here or where she was. It looked like a medical room, so did that mean someone had rescued her and brought her here? If this was true…could she trust whoever it was?

Gingerly, the girl unfolded her legs and crawled off the bed. The floor was cold, but after being in the blizzard so long this didn't bother her. She looked around the room quickly once more and found her old brown bag resting against the wall across from her. However, before she was able to get to it, the door swung open and two unfamiliar men, plus a white bear, walked in.

The girl froze mid-step and slowly turned to face them.

"Oh, you're awake now," the bear stated, staring at her with black-button eyes. "Are you feeling alright? You were sleeping for two days straight." The girl hesitated. She was talking to a polar bear…but then again, there are many mysterious things in the Grand Line. After a long pause she answered his question with a short, one word response.

"Yes."

The word seemed to hang heavily in the silent room. For a moment the two parties stood in the room, just staring at each other. The girl was not pleased with the tense atmosphere and decided it would be best to try and to be on her way as soon as possible. Something about this situation had her on edge.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"This is the infirmary on my ship," the man standing in the middle stated. He was a tall, slim man with a dark complexion and a small black goatee. There appeared to be faint grey shadows under his eyes and the word D.E.A.T.H tattooed the fingers of both his hands. He was dressed in a long black coat with a characteristic yellow smiley face. Something that threw her off though was that the face had odd "T" shaped lines protruding out from the side, almost giving the face a resemblance to a virus. Under his coat the man wore blue jeans, spotted with oddly shaped oval patches of black, and pointed black shoes. To top it all off was a large white fur hat, also spotted with dark circles around the rim, and small golden piercings in his ears. No, after a second glance she realized he had two piercings in each ear rather than one. On his arms were tribal style tattoos, and on the back of his right hand was a black cross. The girl wondered exactly how many tattoos the man had. It made her even more uncomfortable when she realized he was holding a long, thin sword over his shoulder. It appeared to be a nodachi sheathed in a black scabbard decorated with white crosses. The hand-guard was coated with white fur and a piece of red rope was tied near the opening.

The girl continued to stare at him, but then slowly diverted her attention to examining the other man and bear. Both the bear and man wore brown boots and a jumpsuit; the bear wore orange while the man had white. However, in the right corner was same characteristic smiley face which was on the coat of the man in the middle. Unhappily, she realized that the smiley face was far more likely to be the symbol of their jolly roger, rather than some strange fashion statement. On top of that, the dark-skinned man with the D.E.A.T.H tattoo had already stated she was "on his ship." They were pirates, which meant she would need to be on her guard.

"We rescued you from the snow," the bear innocently chimed in, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had emerged while the girl had been lost in her own thoughts.

"…I see," she said, forming the words slowly. After a small pause she smiled warmly at the bear. "Thank you Mr. Bear. I'm very grateful," she added. She really was glad they hadn't just left her to die. She had gotten lucky.

The bear gained a slightly pink glow on his white cheeks. "Aww, it was nothing," he said, clearly happy she had thanked him.

"What were you doing in the snow anyways," cut in the man in the white jumpsuit.

She considered how much to tell them but decided to answer honestly. "I was careless and got caught in the blizzard. Weather in the Grand Line is dangerous and unpredictable."

"Are you an inhabitant of this island," the white jumpsuit man questioned. "Do you know if there is a village or town nearby?"

"No…I don't think anyone lives here," she replied. Upon hearing this, the jumpsuit man seemed to tense a bit.

"If you don't live here…then your pirate who came here," he accused her.

The girl stared at the jumpsuit man with intense blue eyes. "No," she answered without expression. "I don't belong to any pirate crew. I just travel."

"Travelling in the Grand Line alone? Sound dangerous," the dark-skinned man said, finally cutting in after a while. He had been staring at her the entire time, trying to understand her and piece together information. Who was she and why was she here?

The girl simply shrugged her shoulders to his comment about danger. She picked up her worn-out bag off the ground and strapped it onto her back. She was tired and her bones ached, but there was still a lot she needed to do.

"I appreciate your kindness, but I think I'll take my leave now. Thank you once again for saving me and letting me rest here."

"But, where are you going," the white bear asked her, sounding more curious than cornered for her safety.

"Off the island. My Log Pose has set so I don't have a reason to stay here anymore." She did a quick gesture to the compass-like watch attached to her wrist, holding it up for them to see.

"Oh," the bear replied. "Then you have a ship."

She paused. "…A small one. It might have gotten destroyed in the storm so I'll have to go check on it. Either way, there are things I need to take care of."

"And what will you do if you find you have no ship after all," the dark skinned man interrupted. This made the girl frown.

"I don't know," she answered honestly. She could feel his eyes burning into her, examining her. At this point she had no idea what they thought of her. She didn't care either, except for the one critical point that if her ship was destroyed, which she had a very sinking feeling it was, these men (and bear) might be her only ticket to getting off this deserted, iceberg of an island. Although there wasn't a hint of uncertainty in her mind that they were pirates, they had already rescued her once. Maybe they would give her a small lift…? Then again, pirates are notorious for always expecting something in return for any kindness or help they offered. She wanted to leave, but this situation was desperate. She decided to ask something risky.

"If my boat is destroyed would you give me a lift to the next island? One with a town or village of some kind so I can get another boat," she asked.

"And why should I take you with me," the dark skinned man in the middle bluntly retorted, not a hint of kindness or pity in his voice.

She inwardly let out a sigh. Of course she should have expected the typical pirate behaviour. She tried to think of something they might find interesting enough to let her stay. She didn't have any money. She decided to offer her skill.

"I've survived this entire time in the Grand Line on my own. If nothing else, I have the strength and brains to survive in dangerous settings. Even as a temporary addition, I believe I'd be a useful member of your crew," she logically tried to explain. At this point, she was just hoping that these pirates were the type she could reason with.

"That's an interesting offer…But just saying your useful is much easier than actually proving it."

"Then…how about a deal?"

The dark skinned man raised an eyebrow. What kind of deal could she possibly offer him?

"You're a pirate crew, correct? I'll fight whoever you want-your strongest crew member. If I beat them then you give me a lift to the next island with a town. Does that sound fair?"

The girl was interesting. He decided to play along. "But what do I gain if you lose?"

She stared at him expressionlessly. She didn't want to offer up her only possession but if she died here it wouldn't matter anyways. She reached into her shirt and exposed a beautiful gold pendent, which had an intricate design hand-carved into the precious metal. It was decorated with small gems and seemed to glitter even in the low lighting of the room.

"If I lose…I'll give you this. It's the only valuable thing I have so unfortunately I can't really offer you much more, but even this necklace alone would probably get you more than just a few pieces of belli in your pocket."

The pirate thought about it for a moment and smirked confidently when he looked once more at the precious necklace the girl was holding up. She was quite interesting indeed. Although it was clear she had to have had some kind of skill to have gotten to the Grand Line, she did not look anywhere near strong enough to be of use. She was pale, and had a slender, fragile frame. Someone like her probably wouldn't last two minutes in a real battle against dangerous enemies, who were aiming to kill rather than injure.

Her large blue eyes, which seemed to have fiery glow, were looking him squire in the face, awaiting a response. Law decided that if anything else, she would lose miserably and he would gain a valuable necklace before going on his way.

"I agree to your conditions," Law stated, looking her straight in the eyes. "I'm leaving in two hours. Look for your ship if you want. If you don't come back within that two hour time frame I'm leaving without you."

With those final words the pirate existed the room with his two comrades, leaving the girl behind.

* * *

The girl walked through snow with heavy footsteps. She was upset. After leaving the pirate ship, which to her great surprise was much more a submarine than an actual ship, she had searched the land thoroughly for any traces of her small, wooden boat. To her disappointment, she had found it-all ten thousand destroyed pieces of it. The boat had been horribly ripped apart and discarded after the storm had finished with it. She had expected it though, considering the storm had almost finished with her as well.

With sluggish footsteps she forced herself to unwillingly walk back to where the yellow pirate submarine was docked. She could already imagine the tedious journey ahead of her. She had confidence she could win, or at least enough confidence to bet her most precious possession, but who knew how long she would be stuck with them afterwards? Islands in the Grand Land could be close to each other, but they could also be very far away.

She looked up and came to a stop. While lost in her thoughts she had already arrived back at the "ship." Standing on the deck, lazily looking off into the distance, was the dark skinned pirate she had encountered earlier. He noticed her standing in front of his ship, the icy wind piercing through her small frame, and smirked.

"Since you came back here I guess you couldn't find your boat." The statement made the girl narrow her eyes. She didn't like the man's smug tone.

"Unfortunately it looks like I've lost my means of transportation," she said calmly after joining him on the deck of his ship. "I'm ready to fight, so tell me who I'm up against once you're done picking."

"Don't worry," he said, still wearing his smirk. "I already know who I'm picking." With that statement, a large bulky man walked onto the deck. He had a fierce expression, a long mane of black hair that trailed down his back, and muscles that looked dangerously large enough to easily snap someone in half. The girl continued to stand where she was and turned to glance at the animal-like man without interest.

"Are you my opponent," she asked casually.

The man grunted a yes and took an intimidating step forward. In many ways he looked more like a wild animal than a man. "Captain, you want me to fight this little girl? I'd probably kill her by breathing too close."

His comment did not go unheard by the young girl standing across from him.

"Don't worry, I'll try not to hurt you," she replied coldly.

Finishing their brief conversation, if one could even call it that, the two of them walked to the centre of the deck and stood there for a moment, staring intensely at the each other. From the corner of her eye the girl could see that a crowd of men in white jumpsuits and strange hats had gathered around them, forming a thin circle.

"Hey, try not to kill the poor thing Bart," one man screamed.

"Yeah, you better go easy on her," another cried out.

She took a deep breath and blocked out the annoying background of sounds. It would only add to her irritation. Instead, she focused on the man in front of her, who appeared ready to charge straight at her like a bull. The dark pirate, who the large man had called his captain, signalled for the fight to commence. With a swift movement, the muscular man identified as Bart charged towards the blue eyed girl, ready to crush her without hesitation.

The girl was slightly surprised he could move that fast with such a large frame, but she had already learned to not judge from appearance. A foolish mistake like that could get you killed in the Grand Line, but it looked like that was something she still needed to teach the pirates on this ship, who were clearly underestimating her abilities.

Bart came to a sharp stop in front of her and swung a giant fist in her direction. With an easy, graceful movement she stepped out of his reach. Although he had missed she could easily tell that if he had hit her he would have, without fail, broken more than just a few of her ribs.

In frustration and anger that he had been unable to hit her the first time Bart continued to lash out his flurry of fist against her, swinging them at the girl faster and faster. The girl stilled her breathing, taking another deep breath, and began to dance around his dangerous attacks. Her body moved swiftly as she twirled around his punches, moving left and right in almost a rhythmic pattern. In the distance the dark skinned pirate captain watched her, his interest in the girl increased. Whatever the girl lacked in physical strength, she was clearly able to make up for with her swift movements.

Bart and the girl continued their dance for a while longer, but eventually the movements of the large man began to become more sluggish. He was getting tired, and had also fallen straight into the girl's trap. Once she noticed his movements had begun to slow down, the girl stopped her enchanting dance and charged toward him.

Before any of the pirates even had a chance to blink the girl swiftly closed in on the now out of breath pirate and jabbed two of her fingers into his left shoulder with lighting speed. Before Bart could even cry out in pain she attacked him again, this time hitting his right shoulder. She continued, her hands moving so rapidly that they blurred as they struck the larger man at various points on his body. Within less than a second she finished and stepped back. Bart's unconscious body hit the ground with a heavy _THUD. _

The crowd, which had been screaming loudly just a few moments a go, fell into a deathly silence. The men stared at their fallen comrade, who was now lying on ground in front of the girl's feet. Eventually, one man finally summoned the courage to step forward.

"He's not dead," she reassured the man. "He's just unconscious. He should wake up in a few hours."

The crew member froze when she spoke to him, unable to take another step forward. When he glanced upward, the girl could see the fear in his eyes easily. She looked back at him, displaying no emotion on her face, and then walked away from Bart's body so someone would get him off the floor of the deck.

Her footsteps came to a stop in front of the dark captain of the ship.

"Hello _Captain_," she said in a leisurely tone. A playful smirk was on her face. "Where should I put my things?"


	3. The Heart Pirates

Author's note:

Hello everyone, thank you all once again for all the wonderful reviews and encouraging comments (despite the fact I just posted this yesterday). I really appreciate everyone's kindness and am flattered you found my story interesting enough to read :)  
Anyways, this chapter is just a very quick "set-up chapter" more geared towards ironing out a few details rather than making significant plot developments so I apologize if it seems a bit slow and boring. Next chapter will be picking up the pace a bit.  
I want to apologize right now for any spelling/grammatical errors, as well as if I did a very bad job at the accent (you'll see). I'm so sorry to anyone reading this from Scotland. Forgive my rookie abilities ._.

Ps. A special shout out to 10th Squad 3rd Seat who caught a few mistakes in the last chapter. The chapter has been corrected and re-uploaded now.

* * *

**The Heart Pirates**

"Hello _Captain._ Where should I put my things?"

The pirate Captain looked down at the girl who had, with complete ease, just defeated one of the toughest men on his crew. She was standing in front of him, eyes shining and a playful smirk on the corner of her lips. Trafalgar Law was unsure of exactly what to make of her.

"There is a spare room on the second floor," he answered her with an expressionless face. "But first-if you plan on joining my crew I need your name."

"Shouldn't you introduce yourself first, before asking for my name Captain-san?" the girl countered.

"Trafalgar Law, captain of the Heart Pirates."

"Leila, temporarily recruited member of the Heart Pirates," she answered with a small smile.

Law turned away from her and started to give out instructions to his men. "Bepo, Shachi, clear out the storage room for Ms. Leila. Someone get Mr. Bart to the infirmary and the rest of you get back to work. We're setting sail," he firmly ordered before disappearing into a dark corridor leading to the interior of the ship.

"Aye Aye, Captain!" the men cried before running to complete the tasks they had been assigned.

Leila watched the flurry of bodies dashing to and from the deck until she felt someone tug at the sleeve of her shirt. She turned and saw the white bear and the man in the white jumpsuit she had meet when she first woke up on the pirate ship.

"We'll show you to your room," the bear politely said.

The man in the jumpsuit just gave her a slight nod. Leila complied and followed the two into the dark depths of the same corridor Law had disappeared into just a few moments before. She looked around, examining her surroundings as she followed them. She hadn't really cared to look around before when she had left to look for her boat but now that she was stuck here she figured it would be best to start understanding where things were on the strange submarine all the pirates called their ship.

The submarine was much roomier than it appeared to be on the outside and the stretch of doors seemed to go on endlessly. There were two floors on the interior. The first floor had a place for the pirates to dine. The room was crammed with chairs and tables. The clutter made the space appear smaller than what it really was. To the side of the eating area was a decent-sized kitchen. There also appeared to be a room for the navigator to work in across the hall, the walls decorated with assorted maps of various locations. The infirmary was also located here, and appeared to be one of the largest rooms on the ship, only being outmatched by the dining area.

The second floor of the ship was dedicated to housing. All the rooms here were the bedrooms of the crew members, with the exception of the engine room, laundry, and bathroom. Each room housed three crew members and every space looked occupied. Counting the doors and doing some quick math she estimated there were about 24 members. Leila frowned. If all the rooms were occupied then was she expected to share with two other men? She never considered this possibility before she had joined. Her mind drifted back to captain of the crew talking about a storage room…

The man and bear in front of her stopped walking. Leila stopped a short distance away from them and examined her location. Isolated from all the other rooms on the ship were two doors, one directly across from the other. She noticed one of the doors was open and decided to glance inside. She was surprised when she did.

The room was slightly more spacious than the other bedrooms. A neatly folded bed, a small work desk, a cabinet, and two bookshelves crammed with more medical books furnished the room. It was also far neater than any of the other rooms she had seen. Taking a few steps inside she noticed another door to the side. When she opened it was a small, but still comfortable sized bathroom.

"Oi, get out of there before you get caught," the white jumpsuit man called, roughly grabbing her arm and pulling her back outside. "That's the Captain's room. You get that over there." He pointed towards the other door which was located directly across.

"Thanks for letting me know…Bepo?"

"No, Bepo is the bear. My name is Shachi," he corrected.

"Oh, sorry about that," she sheepishly replied. Shachi just nodded once more, not seeming to care.

When she opened the door she saw that the small space was crammed with stacks of towering boxes. Everything inside was frosted with a thick layer of dust that appeared to not have been touched for several months. To the side, crammed roughly between more boxes, was a small bed that looked like a warm invitation for back pain. The space was definitely the smallest room on the ship and made her feel slightly claustrophobic.

Leila was displeased, but she kept her face expressionless. She didn't want to give the pirates any satisfaction that she was upset over being shoved into a small, uncomfortable closet. It would only make it worse if they managed to get a laugh out of it. Instead she joined the bear and brown haired man in lifting the boxes out of the room.

"Where are we taking these boxes," Leila asked, not caring who decided to answer.

"To the infirmary," Bepo replied. "There's another storage room there."

With that being said, the three continued to carry box after box up the stairs. It was back breaking labour and neither Shachi nor Leila were happy about the situation. Leila's lack of physical strength made the task especially daunting for her, but she kept her mouth shut and silently continued to carry as much as she could. Bepo was the only one that didn't seem to care and continued to shift the location of the boxes at a quick, steady pace. By noon the trio finally finished. Exhausted, Leila dragged her sore body back to her new room while Bepo and Shachi disappeared to go get some food.

After the boxes had been removed a small desk and dresser had been revealed, their presence previously concealed by the mountains of storage which had once been there. They looked just as wore out as bed but at least they were still functional and would serve their purpose-not that she had many things to store anyways.

Leila let her exhausted body fall onto the old bed, wanting to take a small rest, but she was rewarded by generating a large dust cloud that made her eyes water and her lungs shriek for fresh air. She had forgotten that the thick coating of dust was still there, and felt foolish for believing the bed might be usable in the condition it was in. Leila signed and looked inside her bag in an attempt to find some scrap cloth to wipe dust with. Taking out a cotton napkin she began the tedious task of whipping everything down.

Another few hours creaked by as she finished with the chore, but by the time she was done the room looked completely transformed from what it once was. The walls still needed a fresh touch of paint and the furnishings in the room were still old, but it now looked like a livable, somewhat decent space. She was standing back and admiring her hard work when she heard a soft tap on the door.

"Hello." Bepo the bear was standing in the doorway holding a tray of food. "I brought your dinner." His dark panda eyes and button nose made the appearance of the white, fuzzy bear holding the tray of food look like something straight out of fairy tale. Leila turned and gave him a happy greeting.

"Thank you Bepo. I'm starving after all that cleaning and moving." She took the tray from him and sat down at the small desk. It felt good to finally get off her feet.

"Don't you want to eat in the diner," the bear innocently asked her.

"No, I think I'm alright here for tonight," she replied, already starting to rip the bread into smaller pieces. The meal didn't look too appetizing, but staring at the food reminded her that she hadn't eaten for a while, sending a surge of hunger throughout her body.

"Okay, but remember to get up by seven," the bear said before leaving. "That's when everyone starts their work for the day. Captain might get angry if you oversleep."

* * *

Leila lazily opened her eyes, her eyelids fluttering a few times before she was finally able to open them. She shifted the blanket off her body and slowly pushed herself to sit upright. The bed creaked stubbornly with each movement of her body. With her eyes finally opened now, she looked around the small room in slight confusion. It took her a moment to remember all the events which had occurred the day before.

With a groan she placed her bare feet on the cold metal floor and stood up. Walking over to her almost empty dresser she looked for something clean to wear. She pulled out the same clothes she had been wearing the previous day. She didn't have much choice since those were all she had, except for the baggy t-shirt and sweat pants she was wearing now for sleeping.

Quietly walking down the hall she opened the bathroom door and took a quick shower before changing. The hot water relaxed her tense muscles and helped to ease the soreness of her body. Bepo had warned her about oversleeping but after only a single night on the monstrosity that was supposed to constitute as a bed Leila had a sinking feeling that wouldn't ever be a problem. After drying herself off with god-knows-who's towel she pulled on her green skinny jeans, white socks, a soft cream coloured long-sleeve shirt, and a sleeveless white hoodie. Her only accessories were the simple, stud earrings she had on and her golden pendent. After lacing up her tall, brown boots she ran a quick brush through her straight, brown waist length hair and left the bathroom. She walked back to her room to quickly clean up by fixing the blankets of the bed and putting her baggy sleeping clothes back in the dresser before deciding to take a look around the sub to savage for some food.

Walking through the empty halls she noticed most of the crew were still asleep and in bed. After finding a clock hung on a wall she realized it was because it was still only 5 am. For a moment Leila considered going onto the deck of the ship for some fresh air, but a quick look out the window of the dining room proved that to be impossible. The ship was currently underwater and moving along at a steady pace. Opening the door would only let a flood of salty water into the ship.

Depressed that she was confined to the first and second floor of the ship she signed and decided to walk into the empty dining room. She sat down at a table and stared to stare off into space, wondering what she should do for the next two hours.

_CLICK! CLACK! CLICK!_

The noise snapped her attention away from her thoughts and she looked around the room for the source of the sound.

_CLICK! CLICK! CLACK!_

She walked around the room a few times before finally realizing that the sound was coming from the kitchen. Gingerly shuffling over, she looked over the counter to find a short, middle-aged man, mixing what appeared to be a large pot of soup. The sound had been his spoon hitting the sides of the metal pot while he mixed its contents.

"Hello," she called out. The weary chef looked up from his work and glanced in her direction. He was dressed in the same white jumpsuit and brown boots she had seen before. His hair was completely covered by the obscurely large, white chief's hat he wore, and the only thing that gave away his hair colour was his orange mario-style mustache.

"You must be the new lass everyone on board has been talking about," he stated, all the while continually mixing the contents of his pot. "Really surprised us by beating up that Bart fella, ya know."

"Oh…I hope he's doing alright." She had actually forgotten about him until the chef had brought it up.

"Don't you get all worried 'bout that man lass. He's 'bout as strong as an ox, lemme tell ya. He made a full recovery 'bout three hours later."

Leila smiled. "I'm glad to hear that. By the way…what are you making?" She was curious to see what the chef might be up to.

"Nothing special-just a bit of boiled vegetable soup."

"Would you like me to help you chef-san? I don't really have much to do at the moment." The man chuckled.

"Just call me Scot. Feel free to pitch in if ya know your way 'round a kitchen." With that being said Leila decided to take out a frying pan and look for some ingredients.

* * *

Law walked into the diner with mild surprise. Whatever his chef had made today smelled quite good, at least a lot better than what he was used to. Shifting past the huddles of men who were eating and having loud conversations among themselves he saw standing behind the kitchen counter, happily chatting in polite conversation with his crew members, was the girl who had recently joined his misfit of pirates the night before.

She was helping the chef, who normally worked alone, to hand out breakfast. Getting closer to the front Law realized that today there were actually _options_ for what to eat. The lovely aroma of scrambled eggs, baked potatoes, and French toast wafted throughout the room, leaving a pleasant smell that aroused his hunger. The girl looked up and smiled when she noticed him.

"Good morning," she called out. She looked like she might have said something further but the group of hungry pirates drew her attention away from him.

"Wow Leila-chan, did you make all this by yourself," one of the men asked with a slight blush spreading across his face.

"I was just helping out. It's really not-"

"This French toast is amazing! What did you put in it," another crew member, who was seated at a table, shouted out.

"I added in a small amount of cinnamon, but I'm sure that-" She was cut off by someone else again before she could finish her sentence.

"Leila-chan, you were so cool in your battle yesterday!" A loud cheer erupted in the hall as the men continued to noisily enjoy their meal and engage the girl in conversation. Somehow she had already started to fit in and the crew gave her their sign of approval, despite the fact that many of them had been weary of her presence the night she defeated Jean Bart. Law couldn't help but wonder if the commotion was over the fact that they were actually being served good food for once or if it was because they were overjoyed to finally have a female on the previously all-male ship.

Law shifted his thoughts away from the meaningless noise and focused on more important matters. There was still a lot Law did not understand about the girl. Why was she journeying in the Grand Line alone? How had she managed to knock Jean Bart unconscious without leaving traces of any physical injuries? When Law inspected him before releasing him from the infirmary, particularly in the areas where he thought he had seen her jab her fingers into his body, he had been unable to find a single bruise. The girl had definitely begun to intrigue him.

He would talk to her alone later.


	4. Questions and Dinner Plans

Author's Note:

The row boat will be further explained later on. There is a very good reason for it but you won't be able to understand it until the memory/flashback chapters. Just keep it in the back of your mind for now and roll with it :)  
Also, I have the next few chapters done and only need to edit/publish but I won't be able to get around to that until Saturday or Sunday. Sorry for the delay. Oh, but if it's any motivation-next chapter we get a bit of marine action!

* * *

**Questions and Dinner Plans**

Leila walked down the corridor of the sub, lost within her own thoughts. Law had asked her to see him after she finished helping out in the diner. She wondered what his intention was by doing this. He was most likely going to bombard her with questions, so she mentally prepared herself to deal with them. She continued to walk until she reached the door which was directly across her room. Looking forward, she inhaled a small breath to focus her mind and then reached out to tap on wooden surface.

"It's open," the voice from the other side called.

Leila opened the door slowly and stepped inside. After gently closing it she went to have a seat across Law, who was sitting and working on something at his desk. He finished scribbling something down and then looked up from his work.

"What do you want to talk about," she asked after he looked up.

"What is a young girl doing travelling in the Grand Line by herself," he asked bluntly, not waiting to beat around the bush. Leila looked and him and considered what to tell him. She honestly wasn't expecting him to jump right into it like that but then again, the pirate captain didn't seem like the type to waste time either.

"I'm trying to get to a certain location, which happens to be an island in the Grand Line," she responded after careful consideration. What she was up to really wasn't a secret, or anything she felt pressed to hide, but it never hurt to be cautious of sharing unnecessary details with someone she had just met.

"And why are you trying to get to this island?" he continued to question. She raised a brow and stared at Law, boredom etched in her face.

"I promised my friend I would meet her there. There's no other reason."

Law leaned back in his chair, his fingers intertwined with each other as he considered what she had just told him. There didn't appear to be anything suspicious about what she was saying, except for maybe the strange meeting spot she claimed to have agreed to.

"Is your friend a pirate?"

"No. At least to my knowledge she isn't; and before you ask-I don't have any connections to pirates either. Well…except for you. Since it's only a temporary thing though I'm not sure if it would even count."

"If you're really on your own though, how would you be able to navigate a boat? It would be difficult for only one person to do that all on their own."

"It was a row boat," she stated bluntly. "It used to belong to a fisherman." Law just stared at the girl. He was surprised but didn't show it on his face.

"So…you're telling me that you've been sailing the Grand Line…in a _row boat?_" He emphasized the point of what type of boat it was, clearly in total disbelief that a scrawny, pale-skinned girl had survived sailing the Grand Line in such a thing. The girl just sat there, totally unphased by the magnitude of how ridiculous her statement sounded.

"That's exactly what I did."

For a moment the two of them sat there, staring at each in other in silence. Law tried to consider if what she had just told him was actually even possible. There were times when even his own, very well equipped ship, had difficulty when the weather turned nasty. Yet, for some strange reason he didn't think the girl was lying. He couldn't think of a reason for her to be dishonest about what type of boat she had used. In the end, he had no choice but to believe that the girl was just miraculously lucky or blessed.

"You used a very interesting method of fighting," he said, finally breaking the heavy silence. "I'm curious to know how you managed to knock Mr. Bart unconscious without leaving any bruises."

"I didn't jab my fingers into his body roughly enough for the skin to bruise; it was more like a gentle poke."

Law waited for her to continue, clearly wanting a better explanation as to how poking someone would knock them out, especially when they were as large as Bart. Leila let out an inward sign.

"I'm not sure if you've ever heard of chi blocking or pressure points? Some refer to it as the_ twelve meridians._ It's an ancient technique practised by some for many centuries, though it seems like people who are able to use it have become very scarce. It's pretty similar to a Chinese martial arts technique called _Dim Mak_ or "touch of death." If you hit the right pressure points, with the correct timing and order, you can get all sorts of interesting effects, such as temporarily paralyzing certain parts of the body, knocking someone unconscious, or even death. Light punches or jabs are good enough so physical strength isn't really a factor, making it quite useful and versatile. Any other questions while we're at it Captain," the girl asked with amusement in her voice.

Law let all the new information he had just received process in his brain for a moment. He was about to dismiss her when a final thought occurred to him. He smirked when he thought of getting under the girl's skin. He wanted to break her calm demeanour.

"I'm done asking questions and you're free to go. Just remember to finish preparing dinner by about 8 pm."

"…..Pardon?" The girl narrowed her eyes and glared at the pirate captain.

"Is there a problem," Law asked innocently, though he knew exactly what the girl was thinking.

"I'm just slightly confused as to why I'm preparing dinner at 8 pm?"

"Because that's your new job on the ship, starting today. I'm sure you'll be fine though, considering how well you did with breakfast this morning."

"The agreement was that you just give me a lift to the next island with a town," she stated, ignoring his compliment.

"Yes, I'll take you there, but everyone who is a member of my crew, permanent or not, has a job assigned to them Ms. Leila. You are not an exception." Law smirked, hoping to see the girl loss her temper, but instead she just looked at him calmly.

"Thank you for clearing up that misunderstanding. Am I dismissed?" The smirk slowly disappeared from the pirate captain's face. He hadn't expected her to just willingly go along with his order without any resistance, or maybe the girl just didn't care enough to fight over it.

"Yes, you may go now Ms. Leila."

* * *

Leila walked out of the room, careful to mask her displeasure of being forced to cook. It's one thing when you do something because you just felt like doing it and completely another when you're given an order to do it. Somehow, having another person demand she do something automatically gave her the tendency to not want to do it anymore. Letting out a sign she decided to just accept the situation. There was no point in getting angry over something so trivial anyways. At least she wasn't being force to do something worse-like doing everyone's laundry.

Walking around the sub she decided to go around and ask her new crew mates what they would like to have for dinner. She didn't particularly care about what their taste in food was but it was her habit to either do something to the best of her ability or to not bother doing it at all.

After a short walk she met up with a few familiar faces: Bepo, Shachi, and Jean Bart.

"Hello," she called out with a friendly wave. Noticing Bart, she realized he might not have the best impression of her. "Sorry about the other night. No hard feelings, right?" she asked, facing the large, muscular man.

"Don't worry about it," Bart assured her with a nod.

"That's good to hear. Oh, and since I've just been appointed as the assistant chef I was wondering if there was anything in particular you were in mood for?" Hearing this, all three men instantly seemed to perk up.

"Onigiri, I definitely want some of that," Shachi called out.

"Meat," Bart stated simply.

"I like fish," Bepo pitched in.

Leila laughed. "Alright, got it. Onigiri, meat and fish-though isn't fish also meat? Hmm…I forgot to ask when I saw him earlier but any ideas what the Captain likes?"

"Captain likes onigiri and grilled fish. Oh, but be careful about bread and umeboshi. He hates those," Bepo helpfully chimed in.

"Umeboshi?"

"Pickled ume fruit," Shachi clarified.

"I see. Thanks guys!" With a wave Leila ran off to scout out some more crew mates.

* * *

After an exhausting trip around the sub multiple times, and explaining to Scot that Law had assigned her to help him with the cooking (which had made him very happy), she had tirelessly put together a few dishes for dinner. The work was a bit tedious but Scot's humour and the mouth-watering aroma of food made it more bearable. When she got tired of the work, she asked herself if she preferred the scent of food or dirty underwear, which was more than enough to motivate her to not complain.

When the food was finally prepared she finishing arranging the stacks of dishes and looked at the delicious options she had compiled: butter chicken, white rice, onigiri, grilled salmon, and apple pie for desert. The selection was not quite as diverse as she would have liked, but considering she had roughly twenty four mouths to feed and it was her first day on the job, she was satisfied. Scot had helped as well, but ironically the situation had somehow made it appear as if Leila was the head chef and Scot was the assistant. The middle aged man had sheepishly admitted to her that he wasn't really a chef, but since no one else on board had a clue as to what to do in a kitchen, and he didn't have much knowledge of medicine or engines, it was the job that he had been assigned to.

"I never would have been able to do all this work without your help though. Plus, since you have a lot of experience feeding a large group of people you're able to cut things much faster than me. How about from now on you prepare the ingredients and I'll handle putting it together," Leila suggested. To this Scot happily agreed.

"A good way to play to both our strengths," he said. The two chefs shook hands and completed their unofficial agreement. Just as Leila let go of Scot's hand the diner was flooded with men, all coming in noisily like a wild stampede of animals. Within seconds a large line up had formed, and several chairs and tables had also been knocked over. Law, who had previously been in the infirmary located down the hall, walked into the room to see what the sudden noise was.

"What's going on here," he demanded.

At the sound of their captain's authoritative voice all the men in the diner suddenly froze.

"Well…?" he demanded, getting impatient.

"W-well…it's dinner time Captain…and…erm…we heard that Leila-chan was cooking," one man stuttered.

"Yeah…it actually smells good for once, so we knew it wasn't Scot," another man added in.

"Hey!" the chef angrily exclaimed from the kitchen, waving his silver spatula in the air.

"Sorry Captain…We just got a little overexcited." All the men looked downward, like they were ashamed of their behaviour, and even Bepo-who had come in after Law-looked down and mumbled an "I'm sorry." The scene almost looked like a bunch of five year children being scolded by their mother. The thought made it difficult for Leila to suppress her laughter and she was forced to look elsewhere. She knew the dark captain would glare at her if she ruined what was supposed to be a very serious scene.

Law just nodded his forgiveness, to which everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

With the scolding over the diner transformed back to a noisy, busy place, with men ordering their food and having happy conversations with their fellow crew mates. Law was sitting at a table and Bepo soon joined him.

"I brought your dinner Captain," the bear said, while carefully putting the plates full of food onto the table. Law looked down in surprise. He agreed that the diner smelled much better than it usually did but he still hadn't anticipated that the girl would make some of his favourite foods. He hesitated for a moment, but then reached out, and put some of the grilled salmon into his mouth. The tender meat was soft and flavourful. He hadn't expected the girl to be able to cook this well.

"What's wrong Captain. Didn't you say you liked grilled fish," Bepo asked. "Is it not good?"

"No, that's not it. I just wasn't expecting for it to be made," Law replied to his first mate after swallowing.

"Oh, that's because Leila went around and asked everyone what they wanted for dinner. She even asked if we knew what you liked."

Hearing this surprised the pirate captain even more. So, she had agreed to take on the chore of cooking without any complaints and then _asked _everyone what they wanted on her own? It's not like she was really part of his crew and had sworn loyalty towards obeying all his orders without question. Normally, anyone would want to argue when being told to take on any work, and then only do a half-ass job of it-_if_ they did it at all. He couldn't help but notice how her behaviour was oddly different from what he had expected.

Law glanced over at the girl who was preoccupied with a group of men hindering her for another serving of food, or just trying to chat her up. She said something and the group of men roared with laughter, but the girl seemed lost as to what was so funny. The sight made Law frown. He was supposed to the captain of a notorious pirate crew filled with dangerous men, but at the moment most of his crew seemed to be acting more like a bunch of love-struck fools.

"Captain?" The voice belonged to Bepo, who was looking over at him curiously. Law turned to face him. "Is she going to stay with us now," Bepo asked.

"No, she's only here until we get to the next island with a town," Law replied.

"Maybe you should try to get her to join. Everyone likes her, and she can actually cook something besides vegetable soup," Bepo suggested.

Law looked at his fuzzy first mate and considered his suggestion. It was true that she had proven to not be useless, and the chi blocking technique she had used raised his interest in her. Many members of his crew were experts in hand-to-hand combat, but the swift movements she had demonstrated in her battle against Bart were something he had never seen before.

"Captain?" Bepo's voice snapped him from his thoughts, reminding him that he still hadn't answered his first mate.

"I'll think about it," Law stated simply. He returned to finishing his meal, but thoughts of the brown haired girl were already rampaging through his mind.


	5. Marine Attack

Author's Note:

Here is our first encounter with the marines. Leila might seem a bit overpowered here, but trust me, she has plenty of weaknesses that get discussed a few chapters later. Also, keep in mind that these are, by no means, strong marines that she's up against. With that being said…

Hina Hanta-chan: Yes, Dim Mak is a real technique and if you google search it you'll even be able to find that people have written books about this topic. Pretty interesting stuff, isn't it? :D  
everyone else: Thank you for all your wonderful and encouraging comments! You guys are the flames to my creativity and now I'm getting all mushy on you lol

* * *

**Marine Attack**

Leila stretched her tired body and slowly clawed the blankets off herself. It had been almost two weeks since she had joined the Heart Pirates, which also meant she had spent nearly two weeks with a mattress so uncomfortable she was considering whether she should just sleep on the floor. After getting ready and completing what had now become her usual morning routine, which was essentially to just get breakfast ready (today's menu was egg-salad sandwiches, Belgium style waffles, blueberry muffins, miso soup, steamed rice and nori) and help Scot clean the kitchen afterwards, she was wondering aimlessly through the halls of the sub. In her boredom she decided to go see what Shachi and Penguin were up to.

Penguin was an average sized, lean man who Leila had gotten to know after hanging out with Shachi enough. Penguin also wore the same brown boots and white jumpsuit as nearly all the other crew members-the only exceptions being Bart, Bepo, the head navigator, and the Captain-as well as an oversized black cap with a yellow rim, a red pompom on top, and his name "Penguin" displayed at the front. Come to think of it, she had gotten close to many of the crew members during her stay, and for whatever reason nearly _all _of them had some kind of hat. Even the captain wore one. She couldn't help but wonder if it was some kind of weird trend they all really liked.

Finally reaching the navigation room she found Bepo, Shachi, Penguin, and Law all sitting around a round table discussing some sort of plan, while occasionally referencing to a large map resting on the table in front of them. The door was open but she knocked on it anyways to alert them of her presence.

"Hey," she said when all four looked up to stare at her. "Are you figuring out how close we are to the next island?"

"What makes you think that," Penguin asked, his eyes hidden under the shadow of his hat.

"Well…besides the fact that all of you are sitting around a giant map, the weather has becomes relatively stable which is usually a strong indication that we're close to the magnetic fields of an island."

"How can you tell how stable the weather is when the sub is underwater? You can't see the sky," Penguin questioned her.

"It's a bit more difficult but it's possible to use the flow of the sea currents."

All three men (and bear) just looked at her puzzled, clearly confused by what she had just said, but just as Leila finished speaking Erin, the medical assistance of the sub, alerted the Captain that land had been spotted from the periscope.

Erin was a pale, slender man with silky golden hair that was often tied in a small ponytail. His shining blue eyes usually remained hidden within the shadow of his obscurely large hat. Erin was one of the few men that didn't seem to gush over the fact that there was a female on the pirate ship, which Leila truly appreciated. His kind demeanor and gentle smile had easily made him one of the people Leila liked to spend the most amount of time with on the ship, when she wasn't preparing breakfast, lunch, or dinner of course. Leila couldn't help but wonder how such a gentle natured man had ended up as a pirate in the first place.

"Captain, I finished the medical reports you assigned me to do this morning. Also, Otto asked me to tell you that we'll reach land in approximately ten minutes," Erin informed with a soft smile.

"And why could Mr. Otto not come tell me this information himself," Law questioned, despite already knowing the answer.

"He said something about wanting to be the first person who gets to go on the deck when we surface," Erin explained, to which Law responded by letting out a barely audible sigh.

"Alert the rest of the crew and tell them to prepare to dock," he ordered.

Within minutes the ship turned into a chaotic cluster of bodies scrambling to prepare for the sub to surface; orders where being yelled out noisily as men rapidly dashed back and forth to complete them. Leila couldn't help but feel slightly lost within all the uproar. Her heart fluttered when she realized that there was possibility that she would finally be able to get another boat and continue her journey across the Grand Line. Before she had time to think any further she stumbled and slammed her shoulder painfully against the wall when the sub made a sudden and very rough turn, which was briefly followed by the ecstatic screams of men yelling at the top of their lungs that the sub had finally docked.

Getting up and ignoring the pain that had started to surge throughout her upper body Leila quickly dashed up the stairs and ran onto the deck of the ship, breathing fresh air for the first time in weeks. Inhaling deeply she smiled and saw the other men being just as delighted to finally be outside again.

The island was a beautiful lush green, and spotted with large trees which seemed to branch out and create an endless network, intertwining and linking one tree to the next. They stood majestically, soaking up the life-sustaining sunlight that bathed them in a warm glow, and a light cool, but relaxing breeze, ruffled their leaves. Occasionally the leaves would separate themselves from their wooden companions and exhilaratingly dance softly in the wind, with graceful twirls and summersaults, before they slowed down and finally arrived to greet the rich, forest floor.

"It looks like everyone is excited to finally get out of the sub," a gentle voice said. Leila broke away from gazing at the lush scenery of the island and turned to see Erin standing directly behind her. He had taken his hat off and his golden hair shone in the bright sunlight.

"Yes," Leila replied with a small nod. "It's difficult to be trapped inside a small space for an extended period of time." He let out a small chuckle of agreement.

"Otto would definitely agree with you. By the way, are you going to look for a town? You might be able to find a boat here," Erin inquired.

Leila once again gazed off into the distant horizon of the island, slightly lost within her own thoughts. She simply nodded without looking at him as her response. However, with that slight action she suddenly felt the air around them stiffen.

"You know," Erin started cautiously, unsure if he should continue. "…Everyone would miss you if you left." Startled that such a thing was brought up Leila spun around to see Erin still smiling at her, but this time with sadness etched into his eyes. The man was genuinely upset at the thought of her departure, and despite his best efforts, he did a poor job of hiding his emotions. Leila had come to learn that Erin was the type to wear his heart on his sleeve, and his sadness formed a small knot in her stomach.

"There might not even be a town here," she stated, unable to think of anything better to say. "We still need to look around." Erin's eyes seemed to brighten a bit and he gently grabbed her hand, leading her off the sub.

"Then let's go check," he eagerly replied, hope laced within his voice. She was being pulled towards the forest, but before Erin could drag Leila any further than a few metres two voices called out to them. Looking over her shoulder, Leila could see Blake, the dark haired, muscular mechanic of the sub, and Otto, the orange haired, sarcastic head navigator, dashing towards them.

"Hey, don't run off on a date without us," Otto screamed. Embarrassed, Erin sheepishly let go of Leila's hand and gave Otto a playful punch in the arm after he and Blake had finally caught up.

Leila was happy to see them both. In the past few weeks on the sub the people she had gotten closest to were Erin, Blake, and Otto. All three were close friends, sharing a bond so strong is nearly verged on brotherhood. Though they would always teased each other it was also plainly evident that one could not live without the other. Otto was playful, with a carefree nature, always pulling pranks on the easily deceived Erin, only to later be scolded by Blake. Then Blake would sigh over Otto's childish behaviour, pull out a cigarette, and Erin would try, for the hundredth time, to get Blake to stop smoking. Otto would take the opportunity to play another joke on Erin and the cycle would start again. Seeing their happy, carefree friendship drew Leila towards them; perhaps because it helped to slightly ease some of her acing loneliness.

"Where are the two of you running off to," Blake asked, his husky and deep voice snapping her away from her thoughts.

"We were going to scout the island for inhabitants," Leila briefly explained. Hearing this, Otto's face broke out into a mischievous smile.

"Alright! Time for some adventure," he happily called out, clearly excited to explore the new island they had come across. That was one of Otto's traits: he simply loved to explore new places. He had told her once that that was the very reason he had become a navigator in the first place. Leila wondered if Otto's strong desire for freedom had any connection to the fact that he refused to wear the white jumpsuit uniform most of the Heart Pirates had. Instead, Otto opted to wear black pants, a grey shirt, a loose red plaid shirt he always kept buttoned open, and a black, sleeveless vest that had white fur around the hood.

Leila looked up to see that Otto had already dashed off, and both Blake and Erin were trying to chase after him before he got lost. Sighing at their behaviour, Leila followed the troublesome group of three into the depths of the lush, green island forest.

* * *

Law was on the deck of the sub and leaning against his sleeping first mate. He used his fuzzy companion as a sort of oversized pillow or cushion, with his nodachi balanced next to him, while staring at his men with a slight frown. Most of his crew had peeled of their clothes and were running around the island beach, in their underwear, like little children. They mischievously splashed each other with water while a few others lounged on the sandy surface, tanning under the warm rays of sunlight. He peeled his gaze away from his "dangerous" pirate crew, and began to consider his next course of action.

His thoughts drifted towards the girl he had recently encountered. Bepo had told him to consider making the girl an actual part of his crew, and the thought had bothered him since, constantly nagging at him in the back of his mind. The fact that she was skilled in hand-to-hand combat matched his crew's fighting style very well, and her ability to cook was a good added bonus, but Law was still unsure of whether she would be a good addition to his all-male crew. She might be more of a distraction than a productive addition.

He closed his eyes and conjured up an image of her in his mind. Her long brown hair drifted down to her small waist, and her shining blue eyes gazed at him. Her skin emitted a slight glow standing under the adornment of the sun, and her smile seemed to have a certain essence which drew people towards her. Law snapped his eyes opened, abruptly stopping himself from daydreaming about her any further.

It was plain to him that the men in his crew didn't just swoon over her because she was a girl. It was because she was a very _pretty_ girl, one that never seemed to refuse them on even the most trivial matters. When they bothered her for things which most people would wave away with annoyance, such as asking for a second serving of food-everyday, three times a day-or a silly question regarding what her favourite colour is, she would actually stop what she was doing and spoil them with her full attention. On top of that, not once had she shown any irritation, even when Law had ordered her to cook for his entire crew out of the blue. Interesting, instead of arguing and getting upset she completed the task she had been assigned with unwavering diligence and detail.

She was definitely different.

The problem was that Law couldn't figure her out. The girl seemed to be an expert at locking away her thoughts and motives behind a calm demeanour that never gave away how she truly felt. She simply always stay unnaturally level-headed. Law stood and tried to locate her on the sandy shore, but she appeared to be gone. Before he could think about where she might have disappeared to, a large coulomb of water shot up towards the sky and violently shock the submarine. Law grabbed the rails to prevent himself from being thrown off, but Bepo was flung against the wall of the sub and rudely awoken.

Law looked towards the ocean and frowned at what he found.

Two navy ships where headed in his direction, their large white sails puffed outwards and proudly displayed the symbol of the marines. Law quickly pieced together that one of the ships must have fired a cannon ball which had just narrowly missed his ship, but had still managed to cause a violent disruption by landing in the water close by. Grabbed his nodachi off the floor of the deck, he prepared for confrontation as both ships came to halt close by.

Within seconds the beach was swarming with navy soldiers. In Law's perspective, they looked like blue and white ants, here to be a nuisance by disturbing his peace. His men were already ready to battle, angry that their small vacation from the labour on the ship had been interrupted. In the distance Law could see Leila, Erin, Blake, and Otto emerging from the undergrowth of the island forest, but he didn't have time to focus on that.

The battle had already begun.

The once relaxing sandy shore quickly erupted into a chaotic hell. His men were expertly defeating the soldiers using their well-honed hand-to-hand combat. Marine soldiers took out their guns and started to fire, weakly trying to drive the pirates back.

"Capture Trafalgar and his crew if you want a huge raise," bombed the voice of loud, cocky man. It was easy to identify him as the leader since he just stood back and delivered orders, screaming at his men angrily when he noticed the pirate crew appeared to have the upper hand despite being outnumbered. He waved his hands in the air frantically and his presence was irritating Law.

Law decided he would quickly dispatch of the man using his devil fruit powers. It would be easy enough to teleport behind him and slice his trough open. The other soldiers would probably be easily defeated once they submerged into confusion after the loss of their leader. Law gradually lifted his right hand to roughly his waist and was about to activate his powers when he noticed from the corner of his eye that his men had suddenly stopped fighting. Confused as to why they would such a thing he turned around and, for the first time in years, was surprised by what he saw.

One by one the beach was being littered with the bodies of marine soldiers. The soldiers themselves were so shocked that they just stood there and gawked with bulging eyes at the girl who was single-handedly rapidly tearing through their forces like paper.

Her body moved gracefully, almost as if she was dancing to an invisible tune which only she could hear, twirling and turning in a breathtaking sight which verged on the point of being spellbinding. Each time she stopped in front of a soldier her hands moved so rapidly that they seemed to blur. Before the soldier even had enough time to understand what was happening they were falling towards the ground, unconscious, and she was already onto her next victim before the body of the previous soldier impacted the hard, unforgiving ground with a loud _THUD._

Two men tried to reach out and grab her arms, but when they did she simply swung her legs and forcefully propelled the weight of her body upwards. With flawless acrobatics the girl somersaulted towards the sky, spinning in three complete circles, which threw the soldiers backwards. She landed easily on her hands and both soldiers also hit the ground, unconscious, after the girl's bare feet blurred for an instant. She then shifted back to standing upright and continued.

At this point the soldiers were completely petrified, their bodies frozen with fear etched into their faces. Even the leader had stopped his yelling and was now staring at the pale skinned girl, horrified. Her eyes went cold, and she glared directly at the leader in pure, unwavering anger. She took a single step forward in his direction, which triggered the once cocky man to wet his pants, the hot yellow liquid burning as it seeped down his legs.

"They're not dead," the girl said, roughly gesturing toward the collection of bodies lying at her feet. "But rest assured, I can kill just as easily. Now, get out of my sight before I decide to stop being peaceful." She shot one last bone-chilling glare before turning around and walking back towards the pirates who were staring at her in just as much shock.

The few remaining soldiers quickly started to drag their fallen comrades back towards their ships, before their leader even uttered the order. When all the soldiers had been picked off the ground the navy leader was still standing there, his pants how completely, and very visibly, wet. One soldier was finally forced to roughly grab the man's wrist and then lead him, like a lost child, back to their ship. In complete silence the marines departed the island, their fighting spirit and morale completely shattered by the hands of a single girl.

When the marines had left all the Heart Pirates were still staring at Leila, who was now sitting on the beach and pulling her socks and boots on. When she finished, she stood up, patted off the sand from her clothes, and glanced at the dumbfounded crew.

"What," she asked innocently. "Is something the matter?"

Complete silence.

"If it's about the shoes, I took them off earlier because I needed to cross this river on the way back, but I heard a loud sound, so I rushed here without putting them back on," she explained.

They continued to silently stare.

Finally, one man broke the silence by letting out a confused "But…H-how?"

Leila frowned.

"How…? Oh right, I told Law-erm…I mean captain-but not you guys. It's called chi blocking. I used it on Bart before, remember?"

"Y-you…chi blocking? But…what about your feet, you…" another man stuttered.

"Oh, now I get it," Leila said, thinking she finally understood their confusion. "You're confused because I also used my feet. Yeah, I can also use my feet to chi block in a situation when my hands are busy. I don't do it often though because it takes more effort to have the same amount of precision with my toes as opposed to my fingers; but it's still pretty useful here and there."

There was another stretch of dead silence, as the pirates continued to stare at her, their shock slowly transforming into a wave of awe and new found respect. Law, who had witnessed the entire spectacular scene unfold on the top of the sub's deck, was also staring at the girl, but with hunger in his eyes. He had decided.

He would make her a part of his crew, no matter what.


	6. Negotiations

Author's Note:

Yes, after five chapters Law has finally made up his mind to add Leila to his crew, which makes sense considering he only got to see her _really _fight last chapter. The question that remains now is: how on earth will Law convince an uninterested Leila to stay with his crew? Things are starting to get complicated…

* * *

**Negotiations**

Leila walked down the final stretch of hallway to her room, tired and exhausted. The events of the day had been…unexpected to say the least. This morning they had reached an island, and after exploring meticulously for hours, she had also found that the island was not inhabited by anything other than the large, overgrown wild life. She had been disappointed and, to top it off, on the way back marines had attacked. Leila had dashed back at a breakneck pace once she heard the cannon land right in the water next to the sub, generating a loud shock wave of sounds that travelled for miles. She had thought the pirate crew would be happy if she quickly disposed of the marines, but instead they seemed to be completely stunned into some strange, traumatic silence after the incident.

Leila sighed.

Actually, maybe all she had wanted to do was vent her feelings of disappointment somehow. In the end, she had acted rashly and now Leila couldn't shake the feeling that she gotten herself into trouble by drawing unwanted attention to herself-both from the marines and the Heart Pirates. She doubted the soldiers she had fought could make a wanted poster for her at this point in time, since they didn't have her picture or name, but staying with the pirate crew any longer than she needed to would definitely put her at a higher risk for that. The last thing she wanted, or needed, was to be constantly chased down by navy soldiers in the already dangerous and unpredictable Grand Line. She had acted tough on the battlefield, but chi blocking has some major disadvantages. If the marines were after her and they found out her weaknesses…she would definitely be in a lot of trouble. The ugly reality was that Leila was walking on very thin ice, and the pirate Captain's demand to see her immediately after she finished her chores for the day had not helped her uneasiness in the slightest.

Her feet stopped in front of the door to his room. For a second she considered turning around, marching into her own room instead, and going to sleep, but she knew that would just make her situation worse. After taking a deep breath to try and compose herself, she stretched out her arm to tap her knuckles against the wooden door.

"Come in," the voice called out to her from the other side.

She walked into the room, silently closed the door behind her, and took a seat across the pirate Captain who was, once again, scribbling some notes down on a paper. Leila watched the movement of his hands dance across the paper, before it finally came to slow stop. Law put his pen down and looked her squire in the face.

"Hello Ms. Leila," he said. She had the urge to shift uncomfortably in her seat and chew on the inner flesh of her mouth (a bad habit she had picked up long ago), but she forced herself to stay still.

"Hello, Captain Law. What can I do for you," she asked, offering him a sly smile.

"We've reached another island. Were you able to find a town?"

"No, unfortunately I was not able to." She formed the words slowly, careful to mask any emotions which the pirate captain might be able to use against her.

"Hmmm…yes, that's quite unfortunate indeed. You showed some very interesting skills in that battle against the marines," Law added in, after a brief pause. Leila dangerously narrowed her eyes. She definitely did not like the direction this was going. She tried to erase the glare from her face before Law noticed, but she was a second too late.

"I didn't know you were so skilled at hand-to-hand, or rather feet-to-hand, combat," he stated, a slight tone of amusement in his voice.

"When learning acrobatics you get skilled at using both," she said with a simple shrug.

"About that deal we made earlier…"

Leila looked up at him, her uneasiness forming a tight knot in the pit of her stomach.

"I've decided to change it a bit," Law finished.

At this point Leila thought she could hear her own heartbeat drumming painfully in her ears. She could feel her mind slowly unravel into a chaos of confused thoughts, as she tried to guess at what the pirate Captain might have in store for her. She realized she had been silent for too long and answered him in a steady, even voice.

"Change it…how?" she questioned.

"Don't worry; it's more of a negotiation. You've been travelling the Grand Line alone this entire time but isn't that a bit too risky? Would you not have a greater chance of meeting this friend of yours if you were travelling with someone else?"

Leila simply raised an eyebrow, clearly not shaken up by the idea of travelling alone. "Exactly what are you trying to get at?"

"I'm saying I'm willing to take you to this meeting spot."

"And why would you do such a thing?"

"What makes you think I'm doing it for anything but the goodness of my heart," Law countered, looking slightly offended by her accusations.

"Please drop the act. Everyone knows a pirate won't help someone else unless they gain something out of it."

Law smirked. The girl was sharp.

"What I gain is having you as a member of my crew longer. I believe your combat ability would be useful, which is why I want to keep you around. I get a strong, new addition to my crew, and you get to the island you're looking for-or are you really that eager to jump into another row boat? Just because you got lucky the first time does not mean you'll still be fine the second time around."

Leila looked at Law with a cold stare. He was trying to add her as a permanent member to his unruly crew of misfits, but the thought was not appealing. Although she admitted he was right when he stated a row boat was dangerous-she had already had several near death encounters-and the guarantee of safely was increased if she was journeying with other people rather than being on her own, Leila did not trust the pirate Captain would actually keep his word. What if she agreed and he simply never took her there? Or even worse, if he took her there and then refused to let her leave his crew?

"Let's say…we get to the island I'm looking for," she said, choosing her words carefully. "Would you be willing to let me leave your crew afterwards?"

"Yes," Law said, without hesitation.

"You're lying," Leila countered. "I can see it in your eyes and you replied too fast without properly thinking about it."

Law sighed. Perhaps the girl had a bit _too_ _much_ quick wit.

"So you don't agree then?"

"No," Leila stated, with defiance.

"Then I have no choice. I'll leave you here," Law said expressionlessly.

"Wait…what? You mean on this island?"

"Yes."

The girl's eyes widened slightly when she came to fully understand the threat.

"You're blackmailing me," she stated, rather than questioned, with anger rising in her voice.

"Yes."

Leila was now glaring at Law with a venomous stare, not trying anymore to hide the rage that was dangerously rising and coming to a boiling point inside of her. She knew from the beginning that she was foolish to place her trust in pirates. Of course she couldn't expect them to keep their word, without trying to twist the situation to get what they wanted somehow. When he had ordered her to cook meals she had held her tongue because she didn't want to upset the captain and give him a reason to not carry through with his promise, but despite her patience that promise was still being violated now. It made her feel like she had quietly complied for no reason and that was definitely not going over well in her mind.

"I see you plan to go back on your word, Captain Law," she stated in an icy tone.

"I simply wish to add a new dimension to it Ms. Leila."

"Do you agree to take me to the island I'm looking for?"

"Yes, I will do that," Law stated with a small nod.

"And what guarantee do I have that you'll actually do it?"

"You'll simply have to trust me, but if you turn down my offer I hope you've already planned out how you're going to get off this island and continue your journey."

"Very well," she hissed. "I will agree to become part of your crew."

"But I also need a guarantee that you will not try to run away as soon as we get to the next inhabited island Ms. Leila."

"I have nothing to give you."

"What about that lovely golden pendent you had showed me earlier?" Hearing this, Leila slightly paled and she could feel the blood draining from her face.

"No," she stated flatly. "I can't give you that."

Law looked at the girl curiously, but decided he would unravel the importance of the golden pendent later. For now he had something he wanted more.

"Then what about your heart?"

Leila looked at him with large, confused eyes.

"My…heart..?"

Law held out his hand and curled his fingers, almost as if he were holding an invisible object.

"I have a special devil fruit power. I can cut out your heart without killing you. You wouldn't even feel it missing. But if you tried to run away, all I would need to do is squeeze it and you'd die."

Leila contemplated the horrifying thought of putting her heart in the hands of an unpredictable pirate. She would be completely at his mercy and he would have the ability to finish her whenever he thought her usefulness had run out.

"I don't think I enjoy the idea that you would get to finish me off whenever you felt like it."

His lips curled into an evil grin, which sent a slight shudder down her spin. She definitely did not trust this man.

"I'll give you ten minutes to think about it. Then I'll ask you once more for your answer."

Leila's curled her fingers into a tight fist under the table and could feel her palms sweating. Ten minutes? She had ten minutes to figure out if she wanted to be stranded on an isolated island in the middle of the Grand Line or at the mercy of a pirate captain, who was clearly willing to do anything to get what he wanted? The thought made her feel nauseous.

If she was stuck here she had no way of getting off the island. She might luck out and run into another pirate crew who were stopping by the island, but because there were multiple routes in the Grand Line there was also a possibility she would starve to death before someone came along. If she gave her heart to Law…she was putting herself completely at his mercy. The thought made her cringe. However, there was also a possibility that she could steal her heart back and escape once they docked at an inhabited island, giving the girl a small ray of hope that she might still somehow be able get out of this crazy situation. It seemed like her options had narrowed down to death vs. slightly lower possibility of death. Her whirlwind thoughts were interrupted by Law's voice, and Leila felt the pressure of needing to make a choice.

"Well," the pirate captain asked calmly, a smirk at the corner of his lips. "What did you decide?"

"…"

"Ms. Leila?"

"Fine...You win."

Hearing this, Law broke out into a wide smile and grabbed his nodachi, which made Leila stand up and take a cautious step backwards. Maybe she had made the wrong choice after all…Things were getting too out of hand.

"Relax Ms. Leila. This won't hurt a bit," he said, while unsheathing the long, dangerous sword and closing in on her. At this point Leila felt like was ready to open the door and bolt out of the room, but she forced herself to stand silently in one spot while Law raised his hand and activated his devil fruit powers.

"_Room." _

Suddenly everything around Leila appeared to have a blue glow to it and she realized that she was now standing inside of a large, light blue spherical dome. She swung around to try and find Law but she only caught a glimpse of him before he disappeared. Her body grew cold when she suddenly felt someone put a firm hand on her shoulder. With wide eyes she slowly turned her head to see Law, with a delighted look on his face, standing behind her. She wanted to move, get away from him, and scream at him to stop touching her, but her body stayed still and she bite her tongue to stop herself from screaming out, all while her mind was racing with confusing thoughts of trying to understand how the man had teleported to suddenly being behind her.

"_Shambles." _

Leila let out a silent gasp when she saw the large sword protruding through her body, but the cold steel was perfectly clean and devoid of any blood. She continued to stand perfectly still, but it was now because she was afraid that if she ran the pirate captain would 'accidentally' cut something he wasn't supposed to. She saw the sword slowly being pulled out of her body and Law teleported once more. He was now standing in front of her and holding something pulsing in his hands. He smirked and held up the pink organ for Leila to see.

"Now…that wasn't so bad," Law said with amusement in his voice. He looked at her and saw the normally composed girl staring at the precious organ he held in his hand, looking deathly pale. Law waited for her to break down or try to attack him but instead she shifted her eyes from his hands to his face expressionlessly.

"Well, it looks like we've settled our little negotiations," she calmly stated, her tone almost matter-of-factly. "If you show me a map I can point to the island I'm trying to get to. I'm sure that's something your navigators will need to know."

Law tucked the pulsing heart into the pocket of his jacket and then closed the distance between himself and the girl. He looked down at her, his eyes hidden in the shadow of his hat, and examined her.

"I'm surprised you're so calm about this. If you like, I'll let you decide one more time if you'd like to stay here or not. What do you say?"

Leila looked up at the man that was towering over her and took another small step forward, their bodies almost touching now. She stared him down with fearless eyes and smiled.

"Don't worry, I haven't changed my mind. I would have tried to run away or put up resistance if I had."

The smirk slowly disappeared from Law's face. "You're not afraid of dying?"

"I've been dealing with nearly dying ever since I got to the Grand Line. Plus, I'm sure you won't kill me off so easily after all the trouble you went through to get me to join your little crew. Isn't that right _Captain_," she added with a sly smirk of her own.

Law mumbled something under his breath that Leila couldn't hear and then walked back to his desk. Leila, who had been so focused on not letting the pirate captain get the better of her, now noticed that the blue spherical room had already disappeared. Law pushed the wooden chair back and once more took a seat.

"Since that's been settled, you are dismissed Ms. Leila."

* * *

Leila was lying on her uncomfortable bed, unable to sleep after all that had happened. Her thoughts drifted to the dark captain that had stolen her heart-literally. Her situation was terrifying and she knew that one wrong step might bring her to an untimely end. The bottom line was, she would need to stay on the pirate captain's good side-at least until the time was right for her to steal back her heart and get off this crazy submarine.

Leila held up her hand and frowned at she examined it in the dim lighting of the room. Having her heart missing made her feel strange and left her with a sort of emptiness, but it wasn't something she could dwell on. For now she needed to calmly execute her plan. She would do whatever the dark captain wanted, gain his trust and complete faith, and then when he least expected it, she would make her grand escape.

"Just you wait Trafalgar Law," she whispered out loud in the empty room. "I will make you regret messing with me."


	7. A visit to the Infirmary

Author's Note:

Things have been getting so busy with final exams only a week away but somehow I've been keeping up with my goal of uploading 1-2 chapters once a week…Still, I feel sort of bad for not uploading again any sooner than this. Sorry if there are any spelling mistakes. Just leave a comment and I'll fix it.

As a brief recap, last chapter Law manipulated the situation to his advantage and force Leila to join his crew. When in doubt, blackmail?! Now Leila has devised a plan to escape, but before then, she needs to address the fact that tensions are running a bit high with the crew after the marine attack incident (since it sort of freaked everyone out and now there is a bit of an awkward atmosphere). What can she do to fix this?

* * *

**A visit to the Infirmary**

Leila walked down the long stretch of hallway towards the kitchen and tried to mentally brace herself to face Scot. Everyone except for Erin, Otto, and Blake seemed to be weary of her presence since the marine attack and seeing her real fighting abilities. She had always been socially awkward, so the situation wasn't new to her, but it still didn't make her feel any better. Now that Law had her heart she also couldn't leave for a while, which meant she needed to try and fix her relationship with the crew as soon as possible. The problem was, she couldn't think of anything.

Seeing she was almost to the kitchen, Leila lightly slapped her cheeks and tried to break out of her gloomy mood. If she was too caught up in feeling depressed she would never be able to fix the problem she was having with the crew. When she finally felt like she was ready she pushed the doors of the kitchen open and entered.

"Good Morning Scot," Leila called out in a happy tone. "What do you think we should make for breakfast?" The middle aged man looked up from mixing the contents of the vegetable soup he made on a daily basis, and gave her nod of acknowledgement.

"Top of the morning Lass. Seems like you're in good spirits, but you're up pretty early. Still got a couple hours 'till breakfast."

"Seems like I couldn't sleep much last night. That old bed in my room can be a bit uncomfortable sometimes. Vegetable soup," she asked, pointing to the large pot. Scot chuckled.

"Wouldn't be breakfast without it."

"Why do you always only make vegetable soup though? Is it your favourite," Leila asked innocently.

"Oh, god no. I ain't too fond of it, but my mum made it everyday and it's nutritious. Good to keep the body strong."

"So, it reminds you of your mother. I think that's sweet," she said with a smile, making Scot blush.

"H-hey. Ain't nothing wrong with remembering your mum every now and then," the grown man stuttered, his cheeks glowing a rosy pink. "Don't you ever think about your folks?" Hearing this, the smile on Leila's face faded slightly. The comment had struck a sensitive cord with her.

"I remember them all the time," she said with a note of sadness in her voice. She held up the golden pendent she always wore around her neck. "But I also always keep them close by, so it's not so bad."

Scot stopped stirring for a moment and looked at the young girl in consideration. He then marched over to Leila and put both hands firmly on her shoulders.

"You know lass, you gave a lot of the boys a fright the other day with all that marine nonsense, but I believe you got a good heart. Ain't nothing wrong with a woman having a fist o' iron. Sometimes ya need it to keep 'em idiots in line," he said with a broad grin that stretched his orange mustache into a smile.

Leila was slightly startled by his sudden words of kindness, but then flung her arms around the broad shouldered man in a tight hug.

"Thanks Scot, you're the best."

"Hey," he yelled, his cheeks regaining a pink glow. "My vegetable soup is burning!"

Trying to supress laughter as Scot awkwardly stumbled back towards his soup pot, dropping his chief's hat and knocking over a few kitchen utensils in the process, Leila opened up a recipe book and tried to decide what to make. She bit the delicate skin on of her mouth, lost in concentration.

"You know lass," Scot called out from behind her. "The best way to a man's heart is their stomach."

"What do you mean?"

"You wanna clear up that awkward atmosphere don't cha? Then make your best dish and poor all your heart into it!"

Leila's eyes widened slightly as she considered Scot's idea.

"Do you really think that'll work?"

"Course it will! Have faith in their simple mindedness!"

With a wide grin spreading across her face, Leila rapidly began to start flipping through the pages of the recipe book. She already knew one of the things that she was going to make.

* * *

Crowds began to gradually pore into the diner. Men fluttered in with sleepy, half awoken faces, but an intoxicating odor soon made them more than wide awake. Leila was standing behind the kitchen counter with Scot and holding a fistful of her shirt so tightly that the skin around her roughly bandaged knuckles were starting to pale to a deathly white. Time seemed to slow down as the men shuffled into forming a disorganized line.

Leila had toiled away at putting together the best gourmet breakfast she could think of: Smoked salmon hash, created with chive sour cream, onions, peppers, and golden brown potatoes chopped into perfect squires, fluffy light brown croissants that had been made with unsalted butter and light mozzarella cheese, a roasted cauliflower and goat cheese frittata, made will dill and red onions for a kick of flavour, Greek yogurt parfaits, topped with slowly cooked apricots and roasted pistachios, mascarpone scrambled eggs, served with garlic flavoured toast and, as a finishing touch, her mother's favourite-warm sticky buns that had been carefully coated with sweet and salty butterscotch sauce. The sauce had been flavoured with a bit of schimenti and scotch, and sprinkled with chopped almond pieces. The mouth-watering layout created a heavenly scent (that had already made poor Scot form puddles of droll in the kitchen).

The men lifted their noses into the air and deeply inhaled the wondrous smell that had slowly dissociated throughout the entire diner. When they finally reached the kitchen serving area and saw the spectacular buffet which had been laid out, their eyes bulged and their jaws went slack. The pirates had never seen such a gourmet style breakfast before. Heck-they had almost never experienced a gourmet style _anything_ before. For the first time, Scot hadn't even bothered to put out his vegetable soup for breakfast (he had been too busy helping Leila to prepare enough for the entire crew and felt like his soup would only ruin the exotic look). Soon, the diner was filled with a large crowd and word quickly spread throughout the sub that the crew was getting something extra special for breakfast today. It wasn't long until Erin, Otto, and Blake also joined them.

"Leila…did you…make all of this," Erin asked, his blue eyes wide under the brim of his hat. Leila simply smiled.

"Hurry up and taste it. I want to know if it's any good," she replied. "I'm not the best cook so I don't have much confidence in my work."

"You don't have _confidence_," Otto shrieked in complete disbelief. He picked up a butterscotch sticky bun and took a large bite. "This is…the best thing I've tasted in my entire frikin life!"

"Oh, the butterscotch sticky bun was my mother's favourite and she taught it to me when I was very young. It's nowhere as good as the ones she can make though…" Her voice slowly died off and she glanced down at the counter. For some strange reason she felt really nervous at the moment. She couldn't understand why she would even care, but something inside of her didn't want her efforts to have been a waste.

"Believe in yourself," Scot gently whispered to her. She glanced over to see the middle aged man doing a "thumbs up" sign with both his hands. Leila grinned and nodded her appreciation. Scot was always picking her up when he noticed she was starting to feel down. Her attention was diverted when she heard the loud yells of the crew members. Leila felt her shoulder slump with relief when she heard what they were saying.

"L-Leila-chan…it's so good I think I'm gonna cry," one man screamed.

"I'm actually crying-but these are manly tears ok! _MANLY!_"

"This is amazing!"

"That's our Leila-chan!"

"Oi, none of you better waste any or I'll give you a butt kicking before Leila-chan does!"

_"Leila-chan! MARRY MEEE!~~~~"_ screamed Otto, in a seductive, love struck voice that made everyone in the room, including Leila, burst into an uproar of laughter so loud that Leila was sure it could be heard from miles away. Everyone was so caught up in the heat of the moment that no one noticed the captain of the crew walking in. He hovered in the doorway, rendered completely speechless by what he saw. Men were hunched over tables and chairs in fits of dizzy laughter and his head navigator was making disturbing kissy faces at the girl he had recently added as a permanent addition to his crew, while she leaned on the side of a wall, tightly holding her sides and laughing in a way he had never seen before. For some reason, ever since the girl had joined them incidents like this were starting to become common.

"Mr. Otto, would you care to explain what you're doing standing on top of a table in the middle of the diner," Law asked in an icy cold tone, instantaneously silencing the once lively room.

"C-captain! I was…uhh…" Otto stumbled, completely lost as to how he should explain the awkward situation.

"It was my fault," Leila quickly cut in, once she had composed herself once more. Every head in the room turned towards the young girl with horror filled eyes.

"Oh? And exactly what did you do to lead to all this Ms. Leila," Law asked, jerking his chin towards his guilty looking crew.

Leila considered what she should say for a moment, but she was still unhappy with the pirate captain for changing their original agreement to his liking. She decided to tease to him a bit.

"Oh…that….well, I made Otto fall in love with me through my cooking," she calmly said, a smirk playing at her lips. "If you try it you might fall for me too."

Every jaw in the room smacked the floor as the dumbfound crew stared at the smug looking girl and their captain, who also looked slightly stunned by the girl's cheekiness. Law silently marched over to the kitchen counter and glared at the girl, his eyes like pointed daggers. He roughly picked up a spoonful of the smoked salmon hash and put it in his mouth.

"…."

The room was dead silent, the tension making everyone stiff.

"Well," Leila asked impatiently. "How is it?"

"…."

"Captain?" Every crew member was starting at their captain, waiting for his judgement.

"It's…not distasteful."

Without a word Law picked up the plate of smoked salmon hash and walked out of the room. As soon as the doors behind him swung to a close the diner once again dissolved into a roar of laughter.

* * *

"That was _priceless._ Did you see Otto's face when the captain walked in," Shachi joked with Penguin.

"He was so red," Bepo chimed in.

"S-shut up," Otto snapped, a bright red blush spreading across his face. "It's not funny!"

"I'm sorry," Bepo said with his head hung while Blake and Erin placed a hand over their mouths, trying to not laugh at their flustered friend as Penguin and Shachi continued to provoke him.

"Still, that was one amazing breakfast Leila! Even the captain liked it," Erin complimented.

"Thanks guys," Leila replied while helping Scot to clean up the kitchen. "I'm glad you liked it, considering how bad I usually am at this stuff."

"Bad," Blake questioned with an eyebrow raised.

"Hey, stop pretending to be so modest and take a bit of credit here," Otto chided.

"Really guys, don't spoil me with so many compliments," she argued, holding up her hands and accidently exposing her bandaged fingertips. Erin, being the diligent medical assistant, gasped and grabbed her hands.

"What's with the bandages," he demanded while examining the poor first aid work.

"Oh…I kept messing up the recipes and having to restart since they were so complicated, but I also had to hurry because I was running out of time...and I guess I wasn't being careful enough while cooking," she sheepishly admitted. "So yea…that's how I cut and burned them a few times but the pain is already fading away so-"

"You _WHAT?_" Erin screamed, cutting her off. He unpeeled the badly tied bandages and paled when he saw the bloody mess most of the girl's fingers had been reduced to. The soft flesh had been cut, several times in some occasions on the same finger, and badly burned in some regions, forming bubbles on the surface of the white skin of her fingertips.

"You need to go to the infirmary," Erin commanded.

"But-"

"No buts-march over there right now."

"Why did you feel the need to make such a fancy breakfast anyways when it was beyond your cooking ability," Blake questioned, frowning when he also saw the damage. Leila just looked at the ceiling, feeling slightly embarrassed, and shrugged her shoulders, not wanting to answer.

"The lass was worried 'bout the fact everybody been acting so tense after that marine attack," Scot bluntly admitted.

"_Scot!_" Leila yelled angrily, feeling betrayed by her cooking partner.

"What," he innocently exclaimed. "It's true."

"Well, she's right about the fact that there was a bit of tension after that," Blake gruffly added in.

"But that's definitely fixed now," Otto happily reassured her, wrapping an arm around Leila's shoulders. "After all, it was good enough to make me declare a marriage proposal," he added in with a wink.

Leila smiled, remembering the hilarious incident.

"Anyways," Erin cut in. "You need to get to the infirmary and get this looked at." Gently grabbing her by the wrist, Erin pulled a reluctant Leila out of the diner.

* * *

Erin pulled Leila into the infirmary, where the dark captain of the crew was examining some medical reports.

"Captain, I'm sorry to disturb you while you're working but Leila needs some medical assistance," Erin respectfully explained to his captain.

"Seat her down on the bed," Law commanded. "And finish looking over these reports for me while I treat her."

"Aye aye captain," Erin exclaimed. He took the medical files from Law and, ignoring Leila's _please-don't-leave-me-here-with-him_ eyes, walked out of the room, leaving the pirate captain and young girl alone together. Law turned to face her, an evil smirk on his face.

"So Ms. Leila," he said while devilishly grabbing onto one of her hands. "How may I assist you?"

He tightened the already painful grip he had on her injured fingertips, making the girl wince in pain. Noticing, the dark doctor loosened his grip and stretched out her hand. Gently uncurling her fingers, he unwrapped the bandages which had been expertly reapplied by Erin, and frowned at the wreckage of her hand.

"How did you do all this?" His tone suddenly shifted from being menacing to concerned. Leila sighed, annoyed she need to explain this all over again.

"I suck at cooking so I had to remake every dish two or three times, but I was running out of time until breakfast started so I rushed and wasn't careful working with the stove and knives, and this," she said while wiggling her fingertips, "is the hideous result. Anyways, it doesn't even hurt anymore so may I go?" She was impatient about wanting to get out the infirmary, or more specifically, getting away from the pirate captain. She rather not spend time with the man that had blackmailed her into joining his crew. Law simply smirked and then tightly squeezed her fingers, making the girl hiss in pain.

"Doesn't hurt anymore huh," he asked with a chuckle.

"Stop that," Leila yelled, pulled her sore and bleeding fingers away from him.

"Cuts and burns need to be disinfected you know," Law stated, matter-of-factly. "Or would you rather wait and come back here after the wound gets infected?"

"Fine, just get it over with," Leila grumbled unhappily, cautiously holding out her hands to him once more.

Law got up, grabbed a bottle from one of his many medical cabinets, and then sprayed some of it onto the tips of her fingers. The disinfectant stung badly and made Leila want to cry out in pain, but she kept her face expressionless. She didn't want Law to get any more satisfaction out of this than he already had. Biting on the inside of her mouth, she waited for Law to finish applying fresh bandages. Once he did, she jumped onto her feet and tried to dash out of the infirmary. Law however, was not amused. He roughly grabbed her wrist before she could escape and pulled her back, making the girl loose her footing. Leila stumbled backwards and landed on her back on the infirmary bed. When she opened her eyes she saw Law on top of her, one hand on each side of her head and one of his legs between hers. Leila tried to shift out of the embarrassing position but Law pinned her arms down, preventing her from moving.

"I am the captain of this ship and you are now a member of my crew," he hissed in her ear, his hot breath washing over her sensitive skin and sending shivers down her spine. "You will not leave until I dismiss you. Is that clear Ms. Leila?"

The girl nodded and prayed for him to let go of her already. When she looked up to see his face she saw he was still smirking at her.

"Well…this is an interesting position, isn't it," he said with amusement. Leila remained silent, not wanting to provoke him into doing anything else.

"Oh, and what were you saying before? Something about making me fall for you?" For a brief second, a look of horror flashed across Leila's face as she slowly realized the dark doctor hadn't planned on letting that incident go unaddressed. Was he going to do something to her? In the midst of her confusion Law leaned down a bit more, bringing his face dangerously close to hers.

"That was just a joke. There's no need to take that seriously, right captain?" She smiled sweetly, trying to coax him into letting her go. Law stared at her, not moving, and Leila could feel her muscles getting tense. She ached to just violently push the smug pirate off her already, annoyed with his constant arrogance. However, after a moment, she realized that she couldn't try to provoke him further because it might make him angry enough to decide to slice her heart in half with his nodachi. His face was already so close to hers though, and she felt like her mind was going to explode from the loud drumming of her heartbeat that was painfully echoing in her ears. Blood rushed to ears when she thought about how much more embarrassing it would be if Law could actually hear her heart going off like a jackhammer. She quickly removed the thought from her mind, and instead shifted her focus on trying to calculate a way out of the desperate situation she had somehow unwittingly led herself into. However, her need to come up with an escape plan was quickly removed.

At that moment Erin returned with the medical reports.

"Captain, I finished the-" He froze mid-sentence seeing the misleading scene in the infirmary. After a long pause of awkward silence Law got up, finally releasing Leila's sore wrist, and addressed his medical assistant.

"You can put the reports on my desk. I still have work to complete, so the two of you are dismissed," he stated, authority in his voice.

Unable to stand being in the same room as the dark doctor anymore, Leila shot up from the bed and, without looking at Erin, angrily dashed out of the infirmary. She would pay the man back for his arrogance in due time, and oh how sweet that time would be indeed.


	8. Slumber Party with the Boys

Author's Note:

Hey guys, this is a bit more of a fun chapter that was geared towards developing the personalities of some of the crew a bit more, though there is an important plot advancement at the start. Anyways, I had introduced them a little while ago but never really had the opportunity to really develop Blake, Otto, and Erin's persona until now. The aim was humour, so if you got a laugh out of it then mission accomplished. :D

* * *

**Slumber Party with the Boys**

Leila was careful to avoid the captain of the crew, still unable to forgive him for taking a small joke too far. She was extremely irritated with him for acting like he could simply do whatever he wanted with her now that he had taken her heart. Whatever the dark doctor believed, Leila would never acknowledge him as her captain, mostly because had absolutely no intension of becoming a pirate. She shook her head, removing the thoughts from her mind. Whatever her feelings were, she would need to learn to cope with them silently since, for better or for worse, she was now stuck here. Besides, what she really needed to focus on was finding Otto. She needed to talk to him about something important, since she doubted the Law had already spoken to him for her. She did a quick search around the sub before deciding to make her way to the navigation room. Looking inside, she found the usually loud and unruly Otto working away intensely at a desk.

"Hey Otto," Leila said, walking into the room. Otto looked up from maps he had been entranced by and gave Leila a broad grin.

"Hey. Not usual for you come to the navigation room. What's up?" Leila took a seat next to him and pointed at the map.

"I want to talk to you about maps and navigation," she said. "If you don't mind, that is." Otto looked at the blued eyed girl in surprise.

"What raised the sudden interest," he asked.

"Well…" Leila started, her voice trailing off as she thought of the best way to explain the situation to the navigator. "I'm trying to get to a certain island. It's very important I get there as soon as possible. The captain said that he would get me to the island if I agreed to stay with the crew. In the end, I decided to…take him up on his offer. Anyways, since you're the head navigator, I thought it would be important that you know which island I'm trying to get to so you can factor in going there while planning the course of the sub." She was careful to exclude the fact that the reason she had "taken him up on the offer" was because Law had given her the options of either getting ditched on an isolated island or agree to his terms and letting him take her heart. She had decided it would be better to not spread that around the sub.

Otto rubbed his chin, lost in thought for a moment. Leila wondered what he was thinking about.

"Then the reason you came to the Grand Line was to get to this island," Otto finally asked. She blinked a few times, not sure why he cared about such a thing, but answered him anyways.

"Yes, the reason I came here was to get to that island."

Otto looked like he wanted to question her some more, but instead he got up from his chair, walked over to a shelf, and started pulling out multiple rolled up maps. He carefully spread each map out on the large, circular table and pointed to a location in the ocean.

"This is roughly where we are right now, at least according to this map. Maps of the Grand Line are usually not the most accurate, considering how few people come here. The accuracy of the maps gets worse the deeper in we go, probably because the further in the Grand Line we go the greater the danger. Very few people have made it even this far, and Gol. D. Roger's crew was the only one to make it right to the last island. Even so, these maps are better than nothing. Can you figure out where the island you're looking for is on the map," Otto asked.

Leila nodded her head and started to scan the maps. She leaned over the table, lost in concentration. Otto stood back in silence, letting the girl focus, but after rigorously shuffling through the maps a few times Leila stood up and frowned.

"Are these all the maps you have Otto," she asked.

"No…but weren't you able to find it on those maps?"

"These maps only cover part of the Grand Line. The island I'm trying to get to is in the New World." Upon hearing this, Otto's eyes widened in complete shock.

"Wait…then…when you asked us to drop you off at the next island with a town…where you planning on buying another boat to take to the New World _by yourself?!_"

"I can handle myself," Leila stated with a shrug. "You've already seen that."

"You might be able to fight well but Leila-that's still insanity! What were you thinking? Do you even understand how dangerous the New World is? It's on a completely different level than what you've seen in the first part of the Grand Line."

"Otto," Leila called, interrupting his rant. Her voice was cold now. "I'm not a child."

For a moment the two simply stared at each other in silence. Time felt like it was ticking by more slowly as the pair had their silent face off. Finally, Otto sighed and broke the silence.

"At least you're not going there alone anymore." He walked over to the shelves once more and brought out a few more rolled up pieces of paper. "There aren't really any maps of the New World, but I do have a few detailed sketches of some of the islands you can find early on."

Leila nodded. "That should be fine. It's not really too deep into the New World."

Once Otto had laid out the new set of maps, or to be more precise, the roughly drawn sketches, Leila slipped back into concentrating on locating the island. She took out a piece of paper from her pocket and started to glance between the paper she held in her hand and the drawings on the map. Otto curiously looked over her shoulder and saw that the paper she was holding had something written on it in an unknown language.

"What's on that paper," he asked, his brows wrinkled with concentration. It seemed like the longer he stared at the sheet, the less he was able to decipher.

"Instructions," she stated simply, still lost in examining the sketches on the table.

"What are the instructions for?"

"To get to the island."

"Oh."

The silence stretched on for a few more minutes, until Leila's suddenly broke into a wide grin and she confidently pointed to a spot on one of the sketches.

"Here," she exclaimed happily.

Otto looked to where the girl was pointing, curious to see where this mysterious island was, but then frowned. The spot she was pointing to was in the middle of ocean, and no island was marked to be there.

"Umm….Leila? You're pointing to the middle of the ocean," Otto said, slowly forming the words in his mouth. The girl simply stared at him expressionlessly, her intense blue eyes unblinking.

"It's there." Her voice was unwavering and forced Otto to have faith in her.

"Do you know because of the instructions," he asked, trying to understand the girl's confidence. She nodded and put the paper back in her pocket.

"Can you get me there," she asked him. Otto hesitated for a moment, but then circled the location Leila had pointed to.

"You can count on me," he said with a grin. "I didn't become the head navigator by sitting around on my ass all day."

Leila beamed with excitement, her eyes shining brightly. Otto was slightly startled by the girl's response. He had never seen her show so much happiness before. When he turned around he saw that her eyes were still intensely staring at the spot he had marked on the sketch.

"Does this island have a name," Otto asked curiously, realizing she had never mentioned the name before. She looked up at him, as if she was surprised he was still standing in the room with her.

"A name…?" she questioned, clearly unaware of what he had asked her.

"Yeah, for the island…?"

"Oh," she said, still lost within her own thoughts. "It's known as the Spirit Oasis."

"I've never heard of it before."

"Most of the people who knew about it have already died."

Otto rubbed his chin once more, intrigued by this new piece of information, as well as the brown haired girl. Although Leila would always bluntly answer any questions she was asked, she never talked about herself on her own or ever brought things up. It made him curious. Otto grinned to himself as he hatched a plan to get to know the mysterious blue eyed girl a bit more.

"Hey Leila," Otto called out once more. She looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Yes?"

"Let's sleep together."

"I'd rather not."

"Oh wait," Otto said with a blush, realizing a second too late how he had worded his statement. "That wasn't what I meant." The girl looked at him once more, clearly unamused.

"Then what is it?"

"What I wanted to say was…Why don't you sleep over with me, Erin and Blake tonight? We can stay up all night long and play games or something."

"You mean…like a sleep over," she clarified.

"Well, I guess you could call it that," Otto said, embarrassed at having to use such an unmasculine word. When he saw Leila's uninterested expression he quickly added in, "I'm only asking for Erin."

"Erin," she questioned, showing a bit more interest.

"Yeah, Erin said he wanted a chance to hang out with you some more so we could to know each other better," Otto lied. "But you know how that guy is. If he finds out you weren't interested he might cry or something."

Leila considered this for a moment and then signed.

"Then I guess it can't be helped. I'll meet you at your room tonight. Anyways, I have to go help Scot with lunch. Thanks for letting me see your maps," she said. With that being Leila left the navigation room and a very distressed Otto behind.

"I'm in such deep shit," Otto said with a groan.

* * *

Otto was pacing around in his room, rubbing his chin and lost in thought. He needed a good way to explain to Blake and Erin what had happened _and_ somehow convince them both to go along with it. He groaned once more and face palmed for the tenth time since this afternoon. It had probably been a really bad plan, but his curiosity had been sparked after Leila had come to see him in the navigation room. He wanted to know more about the blue eyed girl and was spinning lies before he even knew it. Hearing the door open, he turned around to see Erin and Blake walk into the room.

"Hey guys," Otto called out, his voice a slightly higher pitched than normal. "How was your day?"

Erin and Blake took one glance at him and instantly knew something was wrong. They had known each other too long to hide anything.

"What did you break," Blake bluntly asked. "Were you leaning too hard against the periscope again?"

"What, no! I didn't break anything," Otto exclaimed, sounded hurt over the false accusation.

"Then you got in trouble somehow with the captain and want us to help you out," Erin stated, rather than questioned.

"No, that's not it either," Otto said angrily, shaking his head. He sighed. They both already knew something was off so he figured he should just come clean. "I invited Leila to…uhhh…have a sleep over."

For a second Erin and Blake both stood there expressionlessly, slowly letting the words sink in. Once they both finally understood what Otto had just said, they both screamed at him in unison.

_"YOU WHAT?" _

"Hey, calm down guys. Quit being so loud," Otto said, putting a finger to his lips to indicate for them to keep their voices down. "Are you trying to tell the whole sub or something?"

"What were you thinking," Blake hissed, the anger still evident in his voice despite his low tone.

"Let me explain ok," Otto quickly replied, cutting Blake off before he could scold him. "Look, aren't you guys just a bit curious about her?"

"What do you mean," Erin asked.

"Think about it for a second. She's an amazing fighter but no one has ever heard of her before. Wouldn't someone like her normally have a high bounty?"

"But she said she isn't a pirate," Blake cut in. "If she doesn't break the law why would they put a bounty on her?" Otto simply waved the explanation away.

"She's travelling by herself in the Grand Line to get to some unknown top-secret island. You have to admit that's suspicious. Plus, guess what I found out today," Otto excitedly questioned. Blake and Erin, though still unhappy with what Otto had done, where how curious to hear what the navigator had found out.

"Well, tell us already," Blake said impatiently.

"The island she's trying to get to is in the New World."

"Wait," Erin cut in. "You mean…she was planning on going to the New World _by herself?!"_

"And that's not all. She got all spaced out while talking about the island and she also had some weird paper with writing in an unknown language on it and told me it was directions to get to the island she's looking for. The reality is, we don't know a damn thing about her and this is our chance to find out. Now are you with me or not?"

Erin and Blake hesitated. The two of them were curious now too.

"But…how will inviting her here help us find out more about her," Blake questioned with a frown.

"That's simple," Otto replied with a mischievous smile. He held up a glass bottle. "We play truth or dare."

Both men looked at their friend with a horrified expression.

"You're insane," Erin hissed in a low voice. "How did you even get her to agree to something this stupid?"

"I told her you'd cry if she didn't come," Otto bluntly admitted.

"You did _WHAT?!"_ Erin shrieked.

_"Shhhhhh!"_ Otto and Blake both covered Erin's mouth to stop him screaming any louder. When he calmed down they let him go.

"I can't believe you did something like that," Erin replied in an angry whisper, his face red with embarrassment. "What happens if we get caught? I have a feeling the captain would be angry at us over this."

"We won't get caught if everyone can keep their damn voices down," Otto argued. "Look, she's gonna be here any minute so we need to get our shit together. Let's just change for now."

"Do you really think Leila will come here in her sleeping wear," Blake questioned while getting changed.

"Probably," Otto answered. "I did tell her it was a sleep over."

"Ah, what do you think she wears when she sleeps," Erin asked curiously.

"Probably some sexy lingerie," Otto replied with a devilish grin. "I'd definitely like to see some of that."

Erin lost his footing and fell onto the ground, while Blake marched over and smacked Otto across the back of his head.

"What," Otto asked innocently.

"There's no way Leila dresses like that," Erin argued after he finally stood up.

"Oh yeah? Then what do you think she wears," Otto asked, now fully changed into blue, plaid pajama bottoms and a white shirt.

"Leila is more like…a delicate flower. She probably wears something feminine, like those sleeping gowns. I bet she has a really pretty pink dress or something."

Otto snorted. "Did you forget about how easily she sliced through those marine? Delicate flower my ass!"

The two looked like they were about to start a fist fight, but then Blake pushed both men apart and intervened.

"You're both wrong," he said sternly. "She's the type of person to sleep in whatever is the most comfortable."

Both Erin and Otto nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," Otto said with a simple shrug.

"So Blake," Erin chimed in. "What _is _the most comfortable way to sleep?"

"Isn't that obvious," Blake answered, surprised they even needed to ask such a thing. "Completely naked."

Erin and Otto both froze, dumbfound by the statement. A slow blush began to spread across both their faces as they envisioned what he was implying; and then they exploded.

"Don't hit me when you're gonna say something even worse," Otto yelled angrily.

"Blake, how could you even suggest that," Erin added in, sounding horrified.

The three friends slowly slipped into a heated argument about what the blued eyed girl wore at night. They were so emerged within their own bickering that none of them noticed Leila standing in the doorway of their bedroom.

"Nightgown!"

"Lingerie!"

"Naked!"

"Am I interrupting something?"

The arguing trio completely froze. They slowly turned and found Leila, still wearing her regular clothes, staring at them. Her face was completely expressionless as she stood in the doorway. For a moment it felt as though time had completely frozen.

"uhh…L-Leila," Otto stuttered. "When did you…uhh…get here?"

"Just now," she bluntly said.

"D-did you hear what we were talking about," Erin sheepishly asked.

"Some of it."

Otto, Erin, and Blake just looked at the girl, lost for words, but Leila didn't seem to notice. She walked into room, grabbed both of Erin's hands, and looked him straight in the eyes.

"Erin," She said firmly, her intense blue eyes burning into him. Erin looked back at her, afraid she was angry about what they had been talking about. He closed his eyes and got ready for her to hit him.

"L-Leila…go easy on him. Erin bruises easily," Otto cut in, worried for the blond man's safety.

"Don't worry," she stated simply. Her two word answer was enough to make Erin start shaking.

"Be strong Erin," Blake stated from afar, not wanting to be drawn in.

"Sorry Erin, I tried to get her to change her mind," Otto added in, also stepping back a few paces to join Blake.

Erin was really afraid now and Leila could feel his hands shaking. She let go of his hands and then…wrapped her arms around him in a comforting hug. Erin's eyes flew open in confusion and both Otto and Blake felt their jaws smack the floor.

"I'm sorry for not coming to your sleep over Erin. I know Otto can be insensitive so I came here to tell you myself. Please don't cry," she told him gently. "He really did try to convince me to change my mind and come though, and look at how much encouragement Blake it trying to give you."

"Wait," Otto cut in. "You mean…you were never planning on coming?"

"I'm just not interested in this sort of thing," she said after letting go of Erin. "Oh, no offence Erin. I'll make you some cake or something later though so don't be sad, okay?"

"But…you said 'it can't be helped,'" Otto quoted. "And that you'll meet me here?"

"Yeah, it can't be helped that I'll have to come apologize to Erin in person. After all, if I just left it to you then you'd probably hurt his feelings even more, or worse, try to turn it into some kind of mean prank."

Erin just stood there, completely speechless.

"Anyways," Leila added on. "I'm going to go to bed soon, but before I go…I just wanted to let you guys know that I don't think you should argue so much over such trivial matters. You're all friends after all."

"Argue..?" Otto asked nervously.

"Yeah," Leila said with a small nod. "I mean, you guys don't all need to be wearing the same stuff when you go to sleep. You can just do your own thing, so Erin can wear the nightgown, you can sleep in lingerie, and Blake can sleep naked. It just seems strange to argue over something that trivial. Anyways, night guys."

With that being said, Leila walked out of the room to go to bed, leaving Otto, Erin, and Blake in stunned silence.


	9. Land Ho!

Author's Note (or super long rant):

Unfortunately, due to end of semester exams I won't be able to post again until after December 9 (which is when my final exam is). I'll try to have something up by the next day but I still feel really feel bad about this. To make it up to you guys I had decided to post like 6 chapters in a row (I wasn't sure if I'd have the time to upload next weekend so I just posted the 2 chapters for this week, next week, and week after all this weekend). If it's any motivation, after exams I have a month off university so I'll definitely be updating much more frequently. Once again, I'm sorry if this is upsetting but that's just how everything has played out because I suck at time management.

I also wanted to take the time to thank everyone that has been leaving comments, following, and adding this story to their favourites. It really does mean a lot to me and I'm so touched that this many people thought it was even good enough to read past like chapter 2 lol  
You guys are truly my motivation to keep working on this story!  
A special shout out to Shiningheart of ThunderClan, whose comments always make me smile :D

Anyways, we finally reach an inhabited island in this chapter! Some exciting stuff indeed. What new adventures will unfold here?

* * *

**Land Ho!**

The past few weeks on the sub had creaked by slowly. After the infirmary incident Leila had made nothing but umeboshi and bread related dishes because she was irritated with Law, but she felt bad for the crew that was being forced to suffer with him and had returned to offering diverse options a few days later. She still avoided the dark doctor whenever possible though, and would usually go the other way whenever she saw him. With everything mostly back to normal the days had been slow and uneventful. Blake, Bepo, Otto, and Erin would tend to visit her and kill her boredom when she wasn't in the kitchen, which had made the slow passing of time much easier to bear.

Already finished with lunch, Leila was lying on her bed and staring at the ceiling of her room in boredom. Suddenly, the door to her room was violently flung open and Otto ran in, gasping and out of breath. Leila shifted to sitting upright and looked at Otto in curiosity.

"What's the emergency," she asked casually.

"Land…we're going to…land," Otto replied, out of breath.

"Wait, land…How soon?"

"In about two minutes," Otto said, once he had caught his breath again. "Wanna join me to be the first one out?" Leila grinned at Otto and jumped off her bed. It had felt like eternity since she had last been outside.

"Let's go," she said without hesitation. "But don't you need to tell the captain?"

"Forget about that. Erin is taking care of it. Now, let's get to the deck!"

Leila and Otto quickly walked up the stairs and stopped at the latch that would lead to the outside world and glorious fresh air. They could feel the sub starting to take a rough turn and hear the feet of eager men getting the sub ready to dock. Otto pointed upwards with a single finger and grinned.

"You ready," he asked Leila. Leila nodded and placed a hand on the latch.

"Five," Otto started.

"Four," Leila chimed in.

"Three. Two. _ONE! FREEDOM!_"

The two of them swung the latch open and ran out onto the deck of the sub. They both grinned as they took a deep breath to inhale the fresh air and cheered loudly.

"Finally," Otto screamed.

"What a relief to start breathing again," Leila added with a slight nod.

They looked over the rails and Otto began to eagerly nudge Leila's left shoulder.

"Hey, check it out," he said with excitement. "I can see buildings and the outlines of the roofs of houses. It looks like there's a huge city here."

"It'll be good to finally see a real city again. We also need to restock on supplies," Leila replied thoughtfully.

"Hey look, I think I see a city," a loud voice of a crew member screamed.

Leila and Otto turned to see that many of the men were now filling onto the deck of the sub. They cheered happily and flung their fist into the air. Eventually, Blake, Erin, and Bepo also came onto the deck and joined Leila and Otto.

"Looks you ran out to be the first again," Blake stated gruffly while staring at Otto. He took a cigarette and began to light it.

"Blake, you know how bad that is for your health," Erin scolded the older man. Blake simply shrugged without much concern.

"We haven't seen land in a while. I'm celebrating the moment."

"That's such a bad excuse," Erin said with a frown.

"Come on, relax Erin," Otto interrupted. "You always ruin the moment."

"Do not," Erin argued.

"Every time we go for drinks you keep going on about liver cirrhosis," Otto countered.

While the two of them began to argue, Bepo turned and asked Leila a question.

"Are you leaving now that we've finally reached an inhabited island?"

An eerie silence fell upon the deck when all the crew members heard Bepo's question. Suddenly everyone was swarming around Leila into a tight circle, pushing Blake, Otto, and Erin out of the way in the process.

"Leila-chan, is it true," one very distressed man asked.

"You're not leaving right, Leila-chan?"

"Leila-chan, you can't just leave us with Scot and his vegetable soup again!"

The crowd roared with agreement.

"Calm down. She's not leaving," cut in a sharp voice before Leila could address their concerns. Everyone turned to see their captain, his nodachi swung over his shoulder, walk onto the deck.

"Ms. Leila and I have already made a deal. She'll stay with us as long as we get her the island she's looking for." Upon hearing this, the group of men cheered.

"Is that true Leila-chan?"

"I knew you wouldn't leave us!"

Leila glared at Law silently, her face expressionless. She tried to ignore her irritation at being near the pirate captain and addressed the crowd of roaring men shrieking questions into her ear.

"It's true. It looks like I'll be staying with you guys for a while," She replied with a small nod and smile. Suddenly the crowd closed in on her as men came dangerously close to crushing her small frame in overjoyed hugs. She felt her lungs shriek for air, until she felt a hand reach out for her and grab her shoulder. Suddenly she was on the other side of the deck, on the opposite end of the smothering group of men. She turned to find Law was standing next to her, his fingers gently holding onto her left arm, and she slowly pieced together that he had teleported once more using his mysterious devil fruit powers.

"Thanks," Leila said wearily, taking a few steps away from the dark captain so he would release her arm. Law looked at her with intense eyes, as if trying to analyze her mind. After a few seconds had passed, he turned to address his crew.

"Alright, that's enough," He called out in a firm tone. The men fell silent and turned to face their captain. "Supplies are running low on the ship. You know what you need to buy already. Don't cause trouble when you go into the city though. I want to avoid marines for a while."

"Aye aye captain!"

With their orders given the men quickly organized themselves into small groups and headed into the city to restock on supplies. Leila was also about to leave but she heard Law call out to her once more.

"Where are you going," he asked.

Leila turned and looked at him with boredom. "To restock on supplies for the kitchen."

"Mr. Scot is already handling that."

"I also want some new clothes."

"Bepo will go with you then."

"I won't run away," she stated while starting to get annoyed with him. "I don't need a babysitter."

Law ignored her and gave instructions to his first mate. He handed some money to the bear and walked off the sub without addressing her. Leila sighed and felt someone tug at her sleeve. She turned to see Bepo's black button eyes staring at her.

"Are we going shopping now," he asked her, tilting his head in curiosity. Leila couldn't help but offer the adorable bear a small smile.

"Yeah, let's go."

* * *

The city was much larger and busier than Leila had originally anticipated. The streets were crammed with street venders trying to sell their goods and women walking around in every colour under the sun. They held themselves with pride as they passed by in exotic dresses and carefully painted faces. Leila stared at them with slight distaste. She had never worn make up and didn't see the point in hiding what you looked like. In the end, whether you hide your face behind a beautiful mask or not, you could never transform into someone else.

She diverted her attention to seeing what some of the venders were selling. There was a variety of food stands, jewellery sellers, and fishermen that were distracting Bepo. Some were selling strange trinkets or sulvaniers Leila had never seen before. She briefly examined the odd dolls and crystals but quickly moved on.

Grabbing Bepo, who was still hungrily staring at fish, Leila pushed her way through the crowd until she finally found a small shop that sold clothes. The selection was not the most diverse but the clothes were reasonably priced, which would allow her to make the most of her tight budget.

Looking around the store, Leila quietly shifted through coloured jeans, tank tops, and hoodies. She saw some exotic looking dresses as well, but she wanted mobility, not beauty. Looking around, she finally pulled out a black jacket with brown fur around the hood. It would be an essential for the colder islands she was bound to come across. She continued to look through the store's selection, hoping to find something to wear indoors or for summer islands.

"How about this," Bepo called out.

Leila turned to see the white bear pointing to a denim miniskirt. She frowned.

"Thanks for the suggestion Bepo, but I don't think skirts are really my style."

"Why not," the bear innocently asked her.

"Because I can't kick my legs up while wearing one. It would be troublesome if I needed to fight," she replied. The bear simply stared at her blankly, clearly not understanding her concern, but Leila refused to explain any further. Eventually he put the skirt back and continued to help her search.

"What about this one," he suggested, this time pointing to a pair of blue mini shorts. Leila looked at the shorts and tried to consider the idea. It was true that sometimes jeans felt a bit uncomfortable on very hot, summer islands. The heat would make her sweat and the fabric would feel disgusting sticking to her legs, but Leila wasn't use to the idea of wearing exposing clothing. She had simply never done it. Then again, there was always a first time for everything, and the shorts wouldn't give her the same problem as the skirt. She decided to just go for it.

"Why not," she finally replied. Bepo gave Leila the shorts, happy that he could be helpful.

After finally paying for the blue shorts, a pair of brown gladiator style sandals, a white tank top, a grey cardigan, some underwear, and the black jacket, Bepo and Leila existed the shop and merged back into the busy streets. Since it had been a bargain shop, they still had some money left over.

"Should we look for more clothing stores," Bepo asked.

"It's alright Bepo. My wardrobe might not be extensive but I at least have enough for both summer and winter now. Why don't you buy some fish with the rest of the money?"

The bear was overjoyed, making Leila smile. She handed the rest of the money to Bepo and watched him run off. Leila looked around for a bench to sit down on but a voice called out to her.

"Young lady!"

Leila turned, trying to find the source of the voice. She eventually found an old woman wearing a very loose black robe sitting at a stand. The woman waved and Leila walked over to her.

"Can I help you with something," Leila politely asked the old woman. The woman smiled a toothless grin.

"It's not what you can do for me. It's what I can do for you." Leila looked at the woman with curiosity.

"And what can you do for me," she asked.

"I am a fortune teller my dear."

"Sorry, but I already used the last of my money," Leila replied.

"I won't charge you," the woman said with a chuckle. "You just have such an interesting aura that I'd like to do it for free."

Leila raised a brow at the woman in disbelief.

"Come now dear. It's not costing you a dime. What's the harm," the woman asked. Leila couldn't argue with that.

"Alright," she said with a nod. "I guess this might be interesting."

The woman asked for Leila to hold out her hand. She then gently turned it over to expose the girl's palm and began to stare intensely, her hands tracing the lines engraved on the girl's pale skin. Leila wondered what the woman was doing, but she remained silent and allowed her to finish. Finally, the woman looked up at her and released her hand.

"I saw many interesting things in your future my dear, just like I knew I would."

"What did you see," Leila asked. She doubted the woman really knew what she was talking about but it wouldn't hurt to play along with her game.

"You will face many hardships in the near future. Eventually, you will be forced to come to terms with your past. If you fail to do so, it will be the end of you. Also," the woman gave a sly grin, "you will lose your heart to someone."

"Too late for that," Leila grumbled under her breath.

"But you must be careful," the woman continued. "Love will force you to make many difficult choices."

Leila stared at the woman, her eyes unblinking. She smirked at the woman and let out a gasp of laughter.

"Sorry," Leila said, trying not to laugh. "You had me until the loss my heart part, but falling in love? That won't ever happen. Most of your predictions were believable enough though, so good job I guess."

The woman simply smiled. "You will believe me soon enough."

"Right," Leila replied, a touch of sarcasm in her voice.

"Leila? Where are you?"

Leila turned to see Bepo was wondering through the crowd, carrying a large bag, trying to find her. She had almost forgotten she had sent the white bear off to get some fish.

"Sorry, but I need to go now," Leila said kindly to the woman. The woman simply nodded and watched the blue eyed girl run off to meet her friend. When she was finally out of sight a small, pink furball emerged from under the woman's robes.

"That girl has a shinigami's curse," the pink furball stated matter-of-factly. The old woman grinned.

"Yes, I know. She seems interesting though, don't you agree Finn?" The furball bounced in the palm of the old woman's hand.

"But why would a shinigami curse her," it asked.

"Shinigami are bored creatures that find amusement in playing with human lives. The way things turn out for that girl though…it might be different from what you're expecting."

Within the blink of eye, the woman and strange pink creature disappeared, only leaving the abandoned stand behind.


	10. Lost

Author's Note:

Some foreshadowing in the last chapter; it looks like things are finally starting to pick up pace a bit (plot wise). Also, I finally managed to squeeze in some Law x Leila moments. *happy dance* xD

* * *

**Lost**

After finishing their shopping Leila had handed her bags to Bepo and asked him to drop her things off at the sub. The bear had happily complied, leaving Leila to wonder through the busy streets of the crowded city by herself. She aimlessly walked around, not really paying attention to where she was going as she reflected on her run in with the fortune teller. Something about the woman just didn't feel right to her.

Many of the things that the woman had told her resounded with her strongly, but at the same time she had also said something ridiculous about falling in love. The incident had been confusing to say the least. Who could she possibly fall in love with? The only thing she could really give the woman credit for was saying that she would lose her heart, but that was something that had already happened. It really wasn't much of a prediction...unless the woman was implying she would fall in love with the person that she had lost her heart to?

The thought of being in love with Law, the very man she was trying to get away from as soon as possible, was so ridiculous that Leila had to put a hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing out loud. Erasing the very thought from her mind, Leila looked around to find she had no idea where she had wondered off to while she was thinking. Unfamiliar concrete buildings towered over her and the streets here were much emptier. She decided to find someone that might be able to give her directions on how to get to the coast of the island, which is where the sub was docked. Getting to the corner of the street Leila found a man wearing a long brown coat that was happy to help her find her way.

"The coast of the island where ships are docked? No problem," the man said in a deep voice. "I'll walk you there. It's dangerous for a woman to walking in this part of the city by herself."

"Please don't worry about it," Leila replied. "If you could just point which way-"

"Nonsense," the man cried while cutting her off. "I wouldn't feel right about sending you off on your own. Just follow me."

He gave her a kind smile and Leila sighed. The man was persistent, but he seemed to be doing it out of kindness. Leila allowed him to lead her through a maze of streets. She quietly trailed behind him, and stared in boredom at the concrete scenery of old buildings and houses. Leila didn't mind the silent walk, but the man weakly attempted to start a conversation with her.

"So, how did you end up in this part of the city in the first place," he politely asked her.

"I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going and realized I was lost after a while," she replied bluntly.

"That's understandable since this is such a big city. By the way, my name is Rowan. And you are..?"

"Leila."

"Leila, that's a very pretty name. What does it mean?"

"Born in night or born in darkness."

"…ah…how unique…"

"…"

"So…why did you come to this island?"

"To restock on supplies."

"Oh. Well, that makes sense."

"…"

The awkward conversation died down to complete silence again. The man continued to lead the brown haired girl until they finally merged back into the main street of the city where Bepo and Leila had previously gone shopping.

"Thank you," Leila said with a small nod at the man. "I can probably make it from here."

She was about to walk away from the man when suddenly another man wearing a uniform with a large skull on the front of his shirt and some lightning bolts coming out of the sides of the skull grabbed her arm and put a knife to her throat. Leila looked at the man, who was very obviously a pirate, with boredom.

"Gimme all your money and I won't hurt you," he screamed in her ear. Leila glared at the man, unamused.

"I don't have any money," she coolly replied.

"Don't lie to me," the pirate screamed.

"Leila," Rowan yelled, running to try and help her. However, before Rowan was able to reach her, Leila smoothly stomped the heel of right boot into the man's toes. The pirate cried out in pain and his grip on her arm loosened. Leila took the opportunity to spin around, grab the knife out of the man's hands, and swiftly jab her fingers into his body twenty four times. The pirate fell to the ground, unable to move, but he was still conscious. Leila yanked the man upward by the collar of shirt, nearly chocking him the process, and brought the knife to his throat. The pirate stared at her with large pleading eyes, silently begging her to not hurt him.

"I said I didn't have any money. Don't piss me off again," she said in an icy tone. She released the man and allowed his body to collide with the hard city street. Taking a step away from the pirate, she looked up and saw Bepo running towards her.

"Leila," he called out. "Are you okay?"

Bepo caught up to her and she realized that the man named Rowan was still standing a few feet away. He was looking at girl with a slightly stunned expression. Leila signed. People always judged her based on her fragile appearance. Leila was about to leave with Bepo, but the man came to senses before she could get away.

"Hold on a minute," he screamed.

Leila and Bepo turned to see the man was pointing a gun at the two of them. He had unbuttoned his coat, probably to take his gun out, and his navy uniform was now clearly visible.

"That's Trafalgar Law's pet bear isn't it," he accused. "You-you tricked me! I thought you were an innocent lost girl but you were really just a filthy pirate!"

"I am not a pet," Bepo replied. The bear was not smiling and for the first time Leila could feel anger radiating from him. He took an intimidating step forward.

"Don't move, or I'll shoot you both," the marine yelled. His hands were shaking slightly as he held the gun.

Bepo and Leila stared at each other. They both nodded without speaking, and charged at the marine in perfect sync. The marine panicked at the sudden attack and fired the gun. Both Bepo and Leila easily dogged the bullet by jumping out of the way. Leila quickly circled around the man and came to a stop behind him. He tried to turn around and face her but Bepo expertly high-jump kicked the gun out of his hands. While the marine was distracted by Bepo's attack Leila closed in on the man and jabbed her fingers into his backside forty eight times. He fell to ground and, just like the pirate, was conscience but unable to move. The marine groaned from the hard impact of his body striking the ground.

"I am _not_ a pet," Bepo repeated, clearly still angry at the man. Leila walked over to Bepo and put a reassuring hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sure he'll get it right next time Bepo," she said, calming the bear down. Bepo nodded, the frown slowly fading from his face.

"We should get back to the sub," he stated. Leila agreed with her fuzzy companion and the two of them left the defeated marine and pirate on the ground.

* * *

Evening had come quickly after the events of the day. The men on the crew had all begged their captain to let them enjoy their dinner at a bar since it had been so long since they had last been in one. Law had agreed, not caring where they went since they had already completed their work for the day. The sub was completely restocked and the men had earned their small break.

The bar was noisy. Leila was sitting by herself at a table while she watched the men from her crew get drunk and hit on the barely dressed female entertainers who were seductively flaunting their assets. She frowned when she realized what she had just thought. Since when had they become _her crew?_ She planned on bolting as soon as she could get her heart back from Law, not joining them. With slight shock Leila realized she had grown a certain fondness for the unruly pirate crew.

She shook her head, trying to remove the thoughts from her mind. She couldn't get caught up in growing unnecessary attachments, but staring at the men causing mischief in the bar, a small voice in the back of mind told her she already had. Leila considered this and decided to rethink her plan a bit. Maybe she didn't need to leave as soon as she managed to get her heart back from Law. After all, they were already taking her to the island, and travelling in the New World alone, even if the island wasn't very far in, was probably not a good idea. She was strong, but she also still had a few dangerous weaknesses. Leila sighed. In the end, maybe all she was doing was giving herself excuses to stay.

"Enjoying yourself Ms. Leila?"

Leila looked up to see Law sitting in the chair next to her. She wasn't surprised though. By now she had gotten used to his teleporting.

"I'm enjoying myself plenty," she replied flatly.

The dark captain took a sip of his sake and eyed the browned haired girl.

"Do you not drink," he asked while looking at the glass of water in front of the girl.

"Small talk isn't your style. What do really want to ask me," she countered, her tone still expressionless. Law chuckled at the girl's blunt reply.

"I'm interested in knowing more about this island you described to Mr. Otto a few weeks ago."

Leila turned to look directly at Law for the first time since the infirmary incident. She really shouldn't be surprised that Otto had discussed those details with Law. They were captain and subordinate after all. That was the part that annoyed her. She should have anticipated it, but hadn't. It was a mistake on her part.

"What do you want to know," she asked calmly.

"Why would you and your friend decide to meet in the New World when there are so many less dangerous options?" Leila shrugged her shoulders.

"What do you mean why?"

"There must be something special about this island," he stated.

"Special? If you're hoping to find treasure then I'd afraid you won't find any. The only thing there is a few ponds and a forest. As for why, the island is just where my friend lives. She doesn't have a clue as how to fight or defend herself though, so we agreed that it would easier if I meet her there rather than getting her to meet me at some other location."

Law considered this explanation. It made sense but he still felt like there was something the girl was trying to hide.

"What will you do after you meet your friend," he asked.

"What I'll do after…?" The girl looked down at her reflection in the untouched glass of water. "I don't know yet."

Law was surprised to hear this. He didn't know what he was expecting her to say, but it most certainly wasn't this. He had thought the girl had some sort of important plan or mission she was determined to finish.

"If you're not even sure of what you're going to do afterwards…then why are you even meeting this friend?"

"We use to travel together. She was training to heal people though and she couldn't do that without a proper teacher. I took her to the island, where she found a teacher to train her, and I continued to travel alone. However, we made a promise that in exactly one year we would meet again."

"I see." Law took another sip of his drink and tried to piece together everything he had learned about the girl so far.

"You know…"

Law looked at the girl, surprised she wanted to continue the conversation. Normally she only said enough to answer whatever question she had been asked.

"You keep asking me things but I don't know anything about you. Care to share captain," she asked with a small smile. It was the first smile she had given him in a long time.

The girl confused Law. She had also never shown any interest in getting to know anyone, and yet here she was, asking him to tell her things about himself.

"I formed the Heart Pirates in North Blue. I plan on finding One Piece. There really isn't much for me to share beyond that," he answered.

"How interesting. I started my journey from North Blue as well. I guess we have something in common."

Law let out a chuckle.

"What's so funny," Leila asked, her brows wrinkled with confusion.

"You're just so strange," Law replied with a smirk.

"Strange…?"

"I can never understand what you're thinking or what you'll say next." He reached out and gently twirled a few of her brown locks between his fingers. "What type of girl thinks a pendent is more important than a vital organ?"

Leila felt her body stiffen slightly. She wasn't sure what to make of this moment, but something stopped her from trying to get away from him like she usually did. Law's grey eyes locked with her own in an intense stare.

"What is that pendent to you," he asked in a barely audible voice, still playing with her hair.

"It was a birthday gift from my parents."

"Are they still waiting for you back in North Blue?"

"No. They died a long time ago...I had to learn to grow up fast." For the first time, Law thought he saw a flicker of sadness cross the girl's face. It caught him off guard since the girl would normally mask her emotions perfectly.

"I think…that might be something I can relate to."

Law and Leila continued staring at each other. The two seemed to be sharing a tranquil moment. They were completely oblivious to the noisy background of the bar, each only focused on the other. However, their moment was short lived.

Within an instant, a large group of men in marine uniforms erupted through the front doors.


	11. A Double Battle: Enter Thunder Pirates

Author's Note:

How sad…the moment got ruined. Damn those marines D:  
Ps. Not sure if I mentioned this but there are some slight differences between the anime and the manga, such as Law's eye and hair colour. I'll be going with the anime portrayal of everything. Also, sorry for any spelling and grammar mistakes.

* * *

**A Double Battle: Enter Thunder Pirates**

"Don't move! We know the supernova Trafalgar Law and the Heart Pirates are here!"

A swarm of marines flooded into the bar. Law frowned and let go of Leila's hair. Getting up, and more irritated than usual to see navy soldiers, he yelled out commands to his crew in an authoritative voice.

"Get back to the sub. We're departing!"

"Aye aye captain!"

The Heart Pirates roared in anger, jumping up to furiously to charge at the marines that had interrupted their down time. Within an instant the once rowdy bar turned into a war zone. The prostitutes and other customers ran outside, afraid of getting involved in the battle.

"How did they even know we were here," Law hissed angrily while grabbing his nodachi. Bepo, who was standing a few feet away, overheard.

"I'm sorry." The white bear bowed his head in guilt.

Law looked at his first mate curiously. Bepo's guilt was enough to trigger Leila's memory of the fight she had encountered earlier with the pirate and marine.

"Rowan," Leila stated out loud. "He must have told his friends afterwards."

The dark captain eyed the girl, but before he could question her and Bepo further a marine came charging at the trio. Law glared at the man in distaste and activated his powers. He easily sliced through several soldiers. Leila and Bepo took the cue to also join into the fight. Between Law's devil fruit powers, Leila's swift chi blocking, and the expert hand-to-hand martial arts of the crew, the marine forces were rendered powerless within less than a few minutes. The pirates quickly departed from the bar and headed towards their sub. With lightning speed, they ran into the sub and departed from the shore.

"What's going on," Law demanded as soon as the crew had safely managed to get into the sub.

"I'm sorry," Bepo replied.

"It was more my fault though," Leila cut in. "I got lost in the city and asked someone for directions. Right after the guy helped me some pirate tried to attack me. After I beat him up the guy who helped me when I was lost cued into the fact I wasn't some average girl. Well, he didn't know I was a pirate until he saw Bepo."

"He called me a pet," Bepo defended angrily.

"Calm down Bepo," Leila said, trying to sooth the bear. "Well, the guy turned out to be a marine and he pointed a gun at us."

"So we beat him up," Bepo interrupted. "For calling me a pet."

"Yeah…uhh…sort of," Leila finished.

Law simply raised a brow. "So this Mr. Rowan was the marine you encountered?"

Leila nodded.

Suddenly, the submarine took a sharp turn. Men were helplessly thrown against the wall of the sub. Leila was sent flying forwards and crashed straight into Law's chest, knocking him over. The two rolled onto the floor. Leila groaned and felt something holding her down, her chest being compressed by the weight. She opened her eyes and found Law lying top of her, his face only a few centimeters from hers and his body pressing down into her own. Blood rushed to ears as the blue eyed girl found herself in an even more awkward position than when she had been alone with the dark captain in the infirmary. Thankfully, Law quickly got off of her to deal with the crisis of the sub.

"What happened," he snapped.

"Multiple cannon balls are being shot at us. We can't safely go underwater captain," Penguin yelled. Just as the man finished explaining the sub took another dangerous turn.

Law glared from under his fur hat as he regained his balance.

"Is it more marines," he questioned.

"No, it's another pirate crew firing at us. Their jolly roger is a skull with lightning bolts," Shachi replied.

"The pirate you beat up earlier Ms. Leila," Law stated, rather than questioned, with a frown.

"Sorry," Leila answered with a simple shrug.

"I'm sorry," Bepo replied, still downcast.

"Get the sub as close as you can to their ship. We'll have to fight them before we can get underwater," Law ordered.

"Aye aye captain!"

Swarms of bodies rushed to and from the navigation room while others got ready to attack from the deck. Leila, Bepo, Law, and Jean Bart where standing on the deck, waiting for Otto to get the sub close enough for them to invade the enemy pirate crew's ship. Law had his nodachi over his shoulder and was thinking of how to turn the situation to his advantage. He smirked when he realized it was the perfect opportunity to set his plan of getting one set closer to One Piece in motion.

"Crush them and then bring their bodies to me," Law commanded his men who were on standby on the deck. "Dead or alive. It doesn't matter."

"Wait," Leila interrupted. "What do you plan on doing with them?"

"Ms. Leila, you will not question the orders of your captain," Law countered. The girl glared at him, clearly not satisfied with his answer.

The sub came to a halt next the rival pirate crew's ship. An enemy pirate, who Leila recognized as the man she had beaten up earlier, jumped onto the rails of his ship and pointed at her with an evil sneer.

"That's her," he shrieked, "the one that tried to kill me. I'm gonna make you regret messing with the Thunder pirates little girl!"

Leila looked at the man and smirked. "Come and get me then. That is, if you can _little boy._"

The man's face flashed a hot red and he stuck his sword into the air. _"ATTACK,"_ he shrieked at the top his lungs.

Both sides emitted a deafening roar and the battle begun. The Heart pirates jumped over the gap between their sub and the ship, entering into enemy territory. Leila threw her boots and sock onto the deck of sub and then jumped across as well. As soon as she landed she noticed the sub pull away far enough so no one would be able to get back across. Otto had probably done it to prevent any enemy pirates from getting onto the sub and damaging it. He was a smart man.

Leila was forced to bring her attention back to the battle as she just narrowly managed to move out of the way of a stream of bullets. She scanned the battle field to try and locate the snipers that were trying to shot her dead but realized that two pirates were rushing towards her with swords. The girl smirked and rushed at the men at a breakneck pace. Right before she collided with them she crouched down and shifted her weight onto her hands. With one fluid movement the girl swung her legs in a wide circle that struck both men at their ankles, causing them to crash into the hard, wooden deck of their ship. While they were dazed she grabbed their swords and threw it overboard. The steel blades landed in the water and disappeared.

Not wasting time, Leila quickly turned 90 degrees counter-clockwise and jabbed a man that was distracted with fighting one of the men from her crew forty eight times in the back. The man fell to ground, unable to move but conscience. She then grabbed her crewmate and forcefully pulled him left, just narrowly dodging another stream of bullets.

"Thanks Leila-chan," the man called out, but Leila was already ripping through another group of pirates. She jabbed each man forty eight times from the front, knocking them unconscious. In the distance she could see Law use his devil fruit powers to quickly dispatch of another ten pirates. Leila finished knocking another man out and noticed something from the corner of her eye. Law wasn't just getting rid of the enemy pirates. He was cutting their hearts out and collecting them. Before she could think about it any further though she heard Jean Bart's voice roar over the noise of the battle.

"_DUCK_," he screamed.

Leila jumped and flattened her body against the wooden floor of the ship. Her hair was violently disarranged by a strong gust of wind. When she looked up she realized that Bart had used his monstrous strength to rip off the ship's mast and had swung it a full 360 degrees to knock out the remaining Thunder pirates. The victorious Heart pirates got off the floor and erupted into a deafening cheer. When their cheers finally died down Law stepped forward.

"Get any injured men to the infirmary. Mr. Erin will treat them. Line up the defeated pirates and then head back to the sub."

The men loyally jumped to work, carrying out their captain's orders. Leila took the opportunity to confront the dark doctor.

"Why are you collecting hearts," Leila asked, frowning as she looked at the small pile Law had already built up.

"It's all part of my plan. Just go back to the sub," he replied while removing the vital organ from another Thunder pirate.

"And what plan is that," Leila questioned, ignoring the command that had been given to her.

Law stopped working and spun around to face the blue eyed girl. He walked over to her and with his free hand grabbed onto the tip of her chin, forcing the girl to look into his intense grey eyes.

"Ms. Leila, have you forgotten that I have your heart? I don't like continuous disobedience."

"And Mr. Trafalgar, have you forgotten you only have my heart because I _let _you take it," she retaliated coldly. She narrowed her eyes dangerously while she glared at the pirate captain. Law let go of the girl's chin, surprised she had given such a daring response.

"You have a very bad tone while addressing someone that holds your life in their hands," he stated flatly.

"Death has been knocking on my doorstep for a bit too long for me to still be afraid of it. Besides, is this plan really so secretive that no one can know about it?"

Law frowned. The girl would not be as easily manipulated as he had thought. Was she bluffing right now or did she really not care about dying? Either way, he needed some way to deal with her. He was planning on tell his crew about his plan, but there was a difference between his obedient, loyal crew and the unruly girl standing before him right now. He simply couldn't trust her the way he trusted them, but even if he choose to not tell her, she was bound to find out from the other members of the crew once he told them. Law let out an inaudible sigh and made his choice.

"Do you think 100 hearts would be enough," Law asked with a smirk.

"Enough…for what exactly?" The girl had stopped glaring and was now looking at him in a curious manner, trying to figure out what he was planning.

"For the government to be willing to give me shichibukai status."

"You don't seem like the type to be interested in something as fickle as status."

"Your right," Law replied, still smirking broadly. "I don't care about it, but as a shichibukai I'll have the freedom to go and do as I please without the government sending a fleet of marines after me. It's the perfect set up."

"To get closer to One Piece? Aren't you worried that such an elaborate and drawn out plan will take too long? There is a possibility that someone else can be getting closer to the treasure while you're carrying out your plans."

"The weak can do whatever they please. In the end, the title of pirate king will only go to who it rightfully belongs to."

"How confident of you," Leila stated, her blue eyes analyzing the pirate captain. She shifted from staring at Law to looking at the unconscious bodies lying near his feet. "What will you do with them once you've taken their hearts?"

"Kill them," Law stated bluntly.

"Why is that necessary," she asked.

"I'm a pirate."

"You're also a doctor. Shouldn't you see life as something valuable?"

Law stared at the girl, unsure of how to respond. He wasn't use to anyone questioning him like this. He felt himself start to get irritated with her behaviour. He could kill her right here and now and yet she still acted this way. Did she really not care about that at all?

"If I let them live they might cause trouble again down the road," he answered. "If you had just killed that pirate and marine when you had the chance this entire incident could have been avoided."

The girl simply looked at him, her eyes unblinking.

"I have no regrets about my choice, but I have a feeling you might if you go through with this." With that being said the girl turned and walked back to the sub. Law stared at her walk away, but turned back to finish what he had started when she was out of sight.

* * *

Leila walked down the stairs of the sub and could already hear the loud cheers of men celebrating their victory in the diner. The smell of sake and booze was heavy in the air, and became almost overwhelming by the time she actually walked into the diner.

"Bart, that finishing blow was unbelievable! They didn't see it coming," Otto yelled out, playfully slapping Bart on his back. "I saw it all from the periscope!"

"Yeah, almost knocked me out too," Shachi grumbled under his breath.

When the men saw Leila walk into the diner they cheered once more.

"Hey, there's our chi blocking warrior," Otto exclaimed when he saw her.

"Leila-chan, you were amazing out there too!"

"Thanks for pushing me out of the way of those bullets Leila-chan!"

"Hey, come have a drink with us already."

Leila looked at the faces of the excited crew and gave them a small smile. Her heart felt a bit heavy after finding out Law planned on killing the Thunder pirates but she didn't want to ruin the mood of the crew. She took a seat next to Bart.

"You really do have amazing strength," she complimented the man.

Bart looked at the girl and nodded his thanks.

"You're not too bad yourself," he stated. "I heard you got through more than a quarter of their crew before some of our men could even start fighting."

"Mostly because they were underestimating my abilities. Those who judge based on appearance alone don't last long in the Grand Line."

"Learned that the hard way," Bart stated with a sip of his sake.

Leila smiled at the muscular man. She drifted into her thoughts for a moment and gazed at the rowdy bar. Otto had had too much to drink already and was making drunken jokes with Bepo. Blake was having a cigarette with some of the other men and Scot was handing out more bottles of sake and booze. Everyone seemed like they were having a good time. She couldn't help but wonder how many were injured in the infirmary though. No one had died but several men had gotten shot, which was enough to keep Erin busy.

Leila got up and grabbed an empty glass. She was about to pour some water into it but a hand reached out and grabbed the glass before she could do so.

"Whatz with all da water business," Otto drunkenly asked, his words slurring.

"I was going to drink some," Leila stated with a slight frown.

"You know what ya need? S-A-K-E."

"I'd rather have some water."

"C'mon Leila," Otto replied, placing an arm around her shoulders and pulling her closer to him. He waved a bottle in front of her. "Ya gotta have sake to celebrate. Don't cha drink?"

"I'd prefer not to."

"What iz this nonsense? Don't tell me ya never haz a drink before?"

"I have."

"Good. Then have some morz." He brought the bottle to her lips and, before Leila had the chance to understand what was happening, tipped its contents into her mouth. The liquid felt hot as it went down her throat. She pushed Otto away from her and coughed a few times as she felt some of it go down her windpipe.

"Otto, the hell are you doing to Leila," Blake asked angrily, storming over to the pair. He smacked the navigator across the back of his head.

"I challenzing her," Otto replied, his drunken slur getting even worse.

"Challenge to what," Leila questioned, whipping the remains of the sake from the corner of her mouth.

"Bet I caz drink more than ya."

"Otto, stop being stupid and get your drunken ass to bed already," Blake cut in.

"Whaz wrong. Iz little Leila-chan _scared?_ You gonna pazz out from just havin' one sip or somethinz," he provoked.

Leila narrowed her eyes and grabbed the bottle from Otto's hands. She brought the bottle to her lips and drained the entire thing.

"Challenge accepted."

* * *

Law had finally finished collecting the hearts of the Thunder pirates. He walked into his sub and noticed it was eerily quiet. He frowned. Normally his crew would be louder than ever when celebrating a victory. Something seemed off. He walked into the diner and stared at the unbelievable scene.

Men were slumped on the floor, tables, and chairs. Some were sleeping while leaning against a wall. The entire diner was littered with empty bottles of sake and booze. Sitting at a table in the middle of the diner was Leila. She had her head tipped back and was drinking deeply. When she emptied the bottle she slammed it down onto the table and looked around with a smirk.

"Everybody passed out already?"

Bepo, who was sitting next to Leila, looked around and nodded.

Law walked up to his first mate to question what appeared to be the only sane person left in the diner.

"What happened," Law asked.

Both Bepo and a glaze-eyed Leila turned to face him.

"Captain's back," Leila stated, her voice sounding a bit different than what it usually did.

"Everyone was celebrating and then Otto challenged Leila to a drinking contest," Bepo replied. "Well, he passed out after only another two bottles, but then everyone started getting into the mood. Pretty soon, the entire crew was drinking to see who could have the most without passing out. No one beat Leila though."

Law sighed. Why had this sort of thing started to become common on his sub? He curiously looked at blue eyed girl sitting next to Bepo.

"I thought you didn't drink," he stated.

"Why would ya think that," she asked, her words slurring slightly.

"You were having water in the bar when we talked."

"Well, I do drink so there."

She stood up and took a few wobbly steps forward.

"Where are you going," Bepo asked.

"My room."

"Not in the state you're in," Law cut in with a frown.

She swung around to face him with a fierce expression, her hands on her hips. "I can get back jus' fine." The girl continued her struggle to walk out of the diner, but she didn't notice Otto's body slumped on the floor. Her foot accidently struck him and she lost her balance.

Law used his devil fruit powers to teleport and caught Leila in his arms before her body struck the ground. When he looked down he realized the girl had passed out. With her eyes closed and her head gently resting against his chest Law couldn't help but notice how vulnerable she was. He smirked as he thought of how he could use this opportunity to get under the girl's skin.

"Captain, what should I do about the rest of the crew," the bear asked.

"Just leave them there. You can go to bed Bepo."

"What about Leila?"

"I'll take care of her," the dark captain replied.

He easily lifted the girl up in his arms and carried her out of the diner. However, instead of going to Leila's room he walked into his own.


	12. Wanted Dead or Alive!

Author's Note:

In this chapter we finally get a flashback, some person vs. self internal conflict stuff, and a couple of plot developments. I wonder how all this will pan out for poor Leila though.  
Ps. Another thank you to 10th Squad 3rd Seat for catching a few more errors. My editing is horrible so I really appreciate it ^_^

* * *

**Wanted Dead or Alive!**

_"Mama, look at that girl over there! Her dress is so torn up!"_

_ "Don't look at her! She might come over here if you do."_

_ "Should we feed her? She looks hungry."_

_ "Stop saying such ridiculous things. Come, we're going home." _

_ Blue eyes looked at the mother dragging her son away. The girl slumped against the trunk of an old tree and brought her knees to chest. She shivered as the cold snow gently kissed her bare arms and legs. When she turned she saw a small red ball roll towards. The girl got up and walked over to the ball. She crouched down and picked it up. Looking around, she saw a small group of boys and girls dashing towards her._

_ "Is this yours," the girl asked, holding out the ball to them._

_ The children froze when they saw her. Some took a few steps backwards. _

_ "Give us back our ball you freak," one bold boy angrily cried. _

_ "But she already touched it," a girl behind him stated._

_ "That's right. I don't want to play with that ball anymore."_

_ "I'm going home. Let's just play again tomorrow." _

_ The children all nodded and ran away, leaving the bold boy behind. _

_ "Look what you did," the boy hissed. "You ruined our game."_

_ "I'm sorry." The girl's empty blue eyes locked with his. _

_ "Don't look at me," the boy screamed. He violently pushed the girl over. Her small frame struck the icy ground. "Why can't you just die already? No one wants a monster around. I bet you're out here alone because even your own parents didn't want you anymore." _

_ The boy ran away, leaving the blue eyed child behind. The girl looked up at the clear sky, lost within her own thoughts. She weakly moved her right arm and dragged her fingers through the soft white mounds on the ground next to her. _

_ The snow…why did it always feel so cold?_

* * *

Leila gasped and opened her eyes. Her body shot upwards, forcing her to sit upright in the bed. When she put her hands on the mattress to support herself though, the bed felt unusually softer than it normally did. Looking around with sleepy eyes, she quickly realized something. She wasn't in her own room.

Feeling cold panic slowly seep into her mind, the girl pushed the blankets off her body and placed a shaky foot on the floor. She pushed her weight forward, attempting to stand, but a bolt of mind numbing pain shot through her brain.

With a groan, Leila sat back down on the soft bed and held her head in her hands, trying to subdue the intense headache. Exactly what had happened to her last night? The memories were a blur. Faint flashes of events played like a slideshow in her aching mind. Fighting the marines. Defeating the Thunder pirates. Law was collecting hearts…and drinking. She had been drinking with Otto. But what had happened to her after that?

"Suffering from a hang over?"

Leila slowly lifted her head from her hands and saw Law standing in a doorway connected to a bathroom. He was shirtless and had a yellow towel around his neck. Her blue eyes were instantly drawn to the pirate's bare chest. Black ink laced the flesh to form a beautiful tribal style heart tattoo with the Heart pirate's jolly roger in the center. The tattoo danced in lovely spirals from his muscular chest to his lean shoulder blades to form another, more simple heart on each side. For the first time she also properly saw the designs that were etched into his tan arms, which were normally concealed by the black coat he wore. Leila realized she had been gawking at the pirate's naked body for too long and tried to force her eyes to look somewhere else. Law smirked and leisurely walked over to the girl. He took a seat next to her. Leila only looked up to face him after she felt a few droplets of water from his wet hair fall onto her hand.

"What's wrong? Does it hurt so badly that you can't even speak," the pirate asked with a light chuckle.

"Why am I in your room," she responded sharply.

"So you can speak after all," Law replied, still smirking broadly. "Don't you remember? Last night you were drinking heavily."

Leila looked at him with irritation. "That still doesn't explain why I'm here."

The dark captain leaned in closer, his body becoming uncomfortably close to hers.

"You become quite the kisser when you're drunk. And to think that you boldly followed me back to my room afterwards…I never knew you were that type Ms. Leila."

Leila felt the blood drain from her face. The man had to be lying to her…or was he? She couldn't remember what happened last night. Her mind was already spiralling into confusion from the horrible headache and the words of the dark captain only made it worse. She shifted backwards, trying to increase the distance between them.

"Why are you shirtless," she asked in a demanding tone.

"I just took a shower," Law replied lazily. "Since we slept together last night I'll let you use my bathroom."

The girl gave the pirate a venomous glare and stood up. She spun around and jabbed her fingers angrily into his bare chest.

"We did _not _sleep together last night."

The pirate captain let the smirk fade from face. He grabbed the girl's fingers and squeezed them painfully.

"I hope you're not accusing me of being a liar Ms. Leila." His tone had become icy and his grey eyes locked her into an intense stare. "We _did_ sleep together last night. As for sex though, I'm only interested in women with a figure."

The girl's checks flared hotly and she felt rage build inside of her. She tried to pull her fingers out of Law's tight grip but the pirate refused to let her go. With a sudden pull, he forcefully yanked the girl forward. Leila hissed in pain as her leg struck the metal frame of the bed, her body collapsing on the soft mattress next to Law. Leila stiffened when she felt his presence unbearably close. The pirate's warm breath wash over the side of her face when he spoke.

"I'm interested to know…who were you saying 'I'm sorry' to?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," she hissed with bolts of pain still shooting up her leg.

"You were mumbling it in your sleep."

Leila forced herself to still her breathing and calm down. She had already let the pirate get to her more than she should have. Whipping the emotion from her face, she slowly moved her aching body back into a sitting position.

"It was just a meaningless dream. I don't even know the name of the boy I was apologizing to," she stated flatly. Law looked at the girl with curiosity and gently ran his fingers through her long brown hair. This time though, the girl did not try to move away or angrily retaliate. Instead she looked at him expressionlessly, all traces of the emotion she had previously expressed gone from her face.

"If you will excuse me captain, I need to prepare breakfast," she said calmly.

"Everyone has already slept through breakfast. It's close to lunch right now."

"Thank you for correcting me. I will prepare lunch."

Law narrowed his eyes, confused by the girl's sudden change. He grabbed her chin and brought her face close to his, a small gap less than a few centimeters separating them. He stared into her eyes, but the girl only unblinkingly stared back. After a few minutes of painful silence, he let her go.

"You are excused Ms. Leila."

Law stared at the girl's back as she got up and quietly walked out of his room. Her peculiar behaviour had sparked his interest. The girl was clearly trying to mask her emotions and hide something. The pirate captain looked off into the distance and smirked.

Whatever the girl was trying to hide, he would shatter her walls and find out.

* * *

Leila was cleaning up the diner after lunch by herself. She was happy to be alone though. It gave her the time to sort out the chaos pounding in the back of her mind. Ever since she had joined the pirate crew a few months ago she had started to let her guard down around them too easily. What was she doing? She had told herself from the day she woke up on the submarine to be careful of them. They were pirates.

_And you're not?_

Leila shook her head to erase the irritating voice from her mind. She was not a pirate, nor would she ever become one. She was only travelling with this pirate crew because she didn't have a choice. With her boat destroyed she had no way of getting off the winter island by herself and afterwards she had been blackmailed to giving up her heart.

_You could have stolen your heart back at the last island. _

No, the timing wasn't right! She hadn't had the opportunity to look for her heart yet. How could she find it and leave when she had no clue where the captain had put it?

_So he's your captain now? _

Shut up already! I only thought that because I have to call him captain all the time out loud when I'm talking to the other crew members. When I say it so much then obviously I'd think it sometimes as well, whether I actually believe it or not. That man will never be my captain though. I want to get away from him and everyone else on this crazy submarine as soon as possible. I definitely don't care about them at all.

_Then why did you move that pirate out of the way instead of letting him get shot during the battle? _

It was the right thing to do.

_You told Law about your necklace._

He asked me so I had to answer. If I didn't he would have kept asking until I finally gave in.

_What about Otto, Blake, and Erin?_

I…

_What about Bepo? Or Shachi, Penguin, Jean Bart, and Scot? Why do you laugh and smile with them?_

Leila froze. Why did she do that? How could she let herself be so open with them? Had she…become friends with them? No! She couldn't be their friend. If she let herself keep being this way around them it would only hurt her in the end. She had to stop herself before she developed feelings for them.

_But you already have. _

Leila dug her nails into the soft flesh of her inner arm, drawing a small puddle of red liquid. She had had enough of listening to the irritating voice in the back of her mind. Letting out a sighed, she rinsed the blood away using the kitchen sink. Leila had already felt it back at the bar. She had grown attached to the unruly pirate crew. How she felt didn't matter though, as long as she kept her emotions under control and calmly forced herself to carry out her escape plan. She had a few fights with some marines since she had joined, but as long as the marines didn't have her name or really know about her they wouldn't be able to make a bounty poster for her. If she kept a low profile, she could avoid being labelled as a pirate and still easily walk away from this entire incident.

"Leila!"

The blue eyed girl closed the tap and looked up to find Otto, Bepo, and a few other crew members dashing towards her.

"Sorry guys, there's no leftover food from lunch. You'll have to wait until dinner," she answered, slightly surprised so many people had come at once. Otto waved her comment away and flung an arm around her shoulders.

"That's not it. We came for something way more important," Otto said, practically yelling the words into her ear from sheer excitement.

"Then what is it," she asked.

"You won't believe what the mail bird dropped," one of the men yelled.

"What? Mail bird?"

"Oh, Scot said the food stock was getting a bit low so I surfaced the sub for him, Bart, Shachi, and Penguin to go fishing. Bart accidently used too much force while pulling a fish out of the water and he snapped his rod in half. The other half of his rod and the fish ended up hitting this poor seagull that was flying by, but that's not the point! It turns out the seagull was one of the birds the marines use to transport mail and other news junk to their soldiers who are at sea," Otto explained.

"The paper hit me while I was taking a nap on the deck," Bepo added in, rubbing the top of his sore head.

"That's not important part," Otto exclaimed.

"I'm sorry." The white bear hung his head.

"Otto, stop being mean to Bepo," Leila scolded. "And what exactly _is_ the important part to all of this?"

"Look at what was in the newspaper Leila-chan," one of the men said. Leila felt her knees go weak when she saw the paper he was holding up.

The paper was a faded brown in colour. In the center was a picture of her standing in a bar with the bodies of unconscious marines at her feet. At the top, written in a large front, was the word "wanted." Under the picture were the words "Dead or Alive. Leila. 135, 000, 000 belli."

"Isn't it great Leila? You finally have your own wanted poster! Getting a bounty is like finally crossing the threshold of becoming a real pirate," Otto excitedly explained.

"Yeah, Leila-chan is an official Heart pirate now," another man screamed.

"And to get a bounty that high on your first poster…That's amazing Leila-chan!"

"It's way higher than Bepo's lame 500 belli. And he's supposed to be the Captain's first mate!"

"I'm sorry."

"Look, Captain's bounty got raised from 200 million belli to 440 million belli as well!"

"It must have been thanks to that Rocky Port incident," the man holding Leila's bounty poster chimed in.

"Rocky what," Leila asked, slightly dazed from trying to take in everything that was happening.

"Oh, that happened a few weeks before we ran into you, but don't worry about that right now," Otto explained. "This is your time to shine."

"We should have a party for Leila-chan!"

"Yeah, for finally becoming an official pirate!"

"Congratulations Leila-chan!"

"Leila-chan, we knew you could do it!"

All the men suddenly closed in on her, suffocating her in a bone crushing hug. Leila felt herself gasp for air as she was squeezed between what felt like Bepo's furry body and Otto's chest. She groaned as she saw her wanted poster gently fall onto the floor in front her.

Exactly what had she gotten herself into?


	13. Erin Wants a Teacher

Author's Note (more like rant):

Hello everyone! I'm finally out of final exams now and literally wrote my last one today *whips sweat off forehead* lol  
Now that I have a month off school I'll probably be writing A LOT but we'll see how much progress I manage to make.  
Side note: The last 6 chapters probably had a lot of errors (that's what I get for trying to upload 6 chapters in the span of less than 48 hours while working on chemistry and biology at the same time). Hopefully, it wasn't too painful reading it and I think I managed to weed out most, if not all, of the errors now. The next three chapters I'm posting may also have a few errors considering I'm uploading it all right after my last exam. Once again, if you see I made a mistake please leave a comment so I can fix it!

_10th Squad 3rd Seat: _Yes, I absolutely agree with you that it's very foolish thinking! That sort of gets explained at the beginning though so hopefully my explanation makes sense  
_ Dhalmi93: _Thank you so much for leaving such a sweet comment! It honestly made my day :D  
_Shiningheart of ThunderClan:_ Poke Master Leila? OMG, I laughed so hard when I read that haha Oh yes, Leila's past is very different from Gaara's (I didn't even notice how similar that small segment might have looked until you pointed it out-fail O_O) but for now I'll just keep you guessing about what happened to her.  
_NightHunterDeath: _There's quite a bit more to it than what had originally let on than a simple curse, but I don't want to give away spoilers so please be patient with me :3

**Also, lots of love to everyone else that's been following this story and giving me their support**

Ps. This chapter might be a bit boring since there is so much explaining in it, but I hinted at the weaknesses for a while so I wanted to finally get around to sharing them. We also get to know a bit more about Erin!  
PPs. You actually read all of this? *gives cookie* ^-^

* * *

**Erin Wants a Teacher**

Leila was sitting in her room with her brows wrinkled in concentration. She had a very big problem. On the desk in front of her was her wanted poster and the horrifying inscription, "Dead or Alive. Leila. 135, 000, 000 belli." The memory made her frown.

At the time when she found out her head had been painfully pounding. She had already been half out of it before Otto, Bepo, and the others had come to see her in the kitchen, sick with a battle that was going on inside of her own mind. Nothing felt like it was making sense. It was only after the hang over had passed that memories of Rowan had wafted back to her.

Of course the marines had her name. She had told one herself who she was. It only made logical sense that Rowan would go and tell his higher ups that there was a new troublemaker sailing the seven seas. She was sure that the first marine crew she had encountered with the Heart pirates had also probably filled a complaint. Of course, back then without a picture or name to associate her with their complaints were probably put on hold, but if they had given a description of what she looked like and who she was travelling with…it wouldn't have taken long at all for the marines to piece together the information. To have believed they wouldn't have been able to do even that much, it had been wishful thinking on her part.

"Those who underestimate others don't live that long in the Grand Line," she murmured out loud, quoting herself.

Biting the delicate flesh on the inside of her mouth, the girl tried to consider what options she had left. She could still try to leave at the next island, but she still needed to locate her heart. There was also the issue that even if she left now, she had already been labeled a pirate. What would she do if a marine battle ship spotted her in a pathetic row boat out at sea? Get killed by a cannon ball or get captured and sent to be executed were probably the most logical outcome. If they were feeling generous, they might hand her a one way ticket to Impel Down.

Leila sighed.

At this point, the best she could do was wait until she got close enough to the island before she left to minimize her chances of running into more marines. If she thought she was stuck before, she really wasn't going anywhere now.

The thought of Law holding onto her heart still disturbed her though. She hated how he always tried to hang that over her whenever he wanted her to obey an order. It's like he believed that he suddenly had the right to do whatever he wanted, like constantly invade her personal space. Memories of being alone with the shirtless captain made blood rush to her face. She got off the chair and started to angrily pace in her room.

Why would he even pull such a horrid joke on her? The man himself stated that he liked "women with a figure" so exactly what was he getting out of constantly trying to get under her skin? She stopped pacing for a second and looked down at her body. She wasn't even that flat! Sure, she wasn't an outstanding D cup, and it seemed like most women she ran into had a larger chest than her, but she wasn't a billboard either. Besides, of course she couldn't have a huge chest when she had such a slender frame. Didn't the man know anything about body proportions?

Leila slapped the palm of her hand against her forehead and groaned. She was letting him get to her even when he wasn't around. Lately it seemed like her mind would wonder towards the dark captain when she least expected it and it was really starting to bother her.

She inhaled slowly and tried to clear her mind. She stilled her breathing as she tried to envision the gentle flow of the sea currents. That's right, she was deviating from the main point. Staying or not, what she needed to do was get her heart back from the pirate captain. She exhaled and let her body relax. Stay calm. Quiet. Focus on centering yourself.

"_LEILA!" _

Her eyes snapped open and she heard the door to her room violently swing open and smash against the wall. She sighed and looked at Erin running into her room. He ran up to her and grabbed both her hands.

"Something wrong Erin," she asked, wondering what the medical assistant needed from her.

"A have a favour to ask you."

"Favour…?"

The medical assistant looked at her intensely and then took off his hat, bowing his head before her. Leila's eyes widened slightly with surprise at the sudden act of respect.

"Please teach me," he said, his head still lowered.

"Erin, raise your head. You don't need to do that. And what do you want me to teach you?"

The blond man raised himself back up to a standing position. He looked at Leila with a kind of determination she had never seen in him before.

"Please teach me chi blocking."

Leila simply blinked a few times. For the first time in a while the quick-witted girl didn't know how to respond.

"You want me to teach you…chi blocking," she reiterated, clearly unsure of if she had heard him correctly the first time.

"I promise I'll train very hard and do any training you assign me without complaint. Please teach me!"

"Wait a second," Leila cut in. "Why are you even asking me this?"

"I've wanted to ask you for a while actually," he sheepishly admitted, "but I couldn't muster up the courage until now. You see…I noticed that when you use your chi blocking you're not really hurting the other person. You might knock someone unconscious but they're not really taking much physical damage. They'll wake a few hours later perfectly fine."

"Yes, but I still don't understand why you want to learn so badly."

"I'm training to be a doctor, but I'm also a pirate. Even though I've made it my goal to help others sometimes I have no choice but to fight. I want to learn to be able to fight without hurting my enemies. To be honest, I didn't even think that was possible…until I met you. For that reason, I will do whatever it takes to learn this technique!"

Leila really wasn't sure what to make of this. She knew Erin's heart was in the right place and he had presented her with a valid reason. Something gleamed in the corner of her eye and she looked down at the golden pendent around her neck that shone even in the dim lighting of the sub. A brief memory flashed in her mind.

"_Leila! You are not learning this technique to hurt others. I'm teaching you so you can protect yourself and the people you care about. Do you understand?" _

"Leila?"

She snapped out of her brief daydream when she heard Erin's voice. She saw that he was bowing his head again.

"I beg of you! Please teach me. I swear on my life I will never use this to hurt others."

She remained silent for a moment, staring at the blond man. In some ways he was so similar to her…it was almost shocking how alike the two of them spoke.

"Are you absolutely sure of it," she asked.

"Pardon…? Erin looked up at her, confused by her question.

"That you will only ever use this technique to protect yourself and the people you care about! Do you really swear it?"

"Of course," Erin loudly exclaimed without hesitation. His eyes shone with intense sincerity and determination. Leila nodded.

"Then I will train you, but be warned that this is an extremely difficult technique to learn. People of a weak will have never been able to master even the simplest aspects of chi blocking."

Erin jumped up and wrapped his arms around Leila in a tight hug that nearly knocking the girl off her feet. His grip was unexpectantly strong.

"Thank you so much Leila."

"Erin…your crushing me."

The medical assistant gasped and let go of her, a deep blush spreading across his face. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it," she replied with a small smile. "Just have a seat anywhere in my room."

Erin nodded and took a seat on the ground and Leila began her lesson.

"The first thing we need to do before we can really start training is covering a basic understanding of what chi blocking is and how it works. If you don't have a general concept of it before you try it, you'll never be able to get it right."

Erin nodded, listening with great patience.

"Chi blocking is a technique that is many centuries old. Over time, the word _"chi"_ has developed many variations, such as _"mana," "qi," "prana,"_ or _"cit"_ but the word still translates to roughly the same thing: life force or life energy. Ancient healers found a way to use their knowledge of this life energy to their advantage when encountering an enemy, and thus the technique of chi blocking was developed."

"But Leila," Erin interrupted, "what exactly is this life energy? I've never heard about it or seen it mentioned in any medical books."

"Listen Erin," Leila started, slowly forming the words in her mouth. "You might need to abandon a lot of the things you read about in those medical books to be able to understand this concept. You're used to working with blood or studying organs, but energy isn't something you can see. It's something you feel."

Erin looked at the girl, his face starting to pale slightly as he began to understand the magnitude of what Leila was implying.

"Life energy, or chi, flows throughout the body of all living creatures," Leila continued, hoping to clear his confusion. "There were healers that dedicated their entire life to mapping the flow of this energy in human beings. Think of the circulation of chi in a similar way to the circulation of blood. It flows in and out of every cell."

"So…can I say that there is a system of energy then? The way the body has a circulatory or respiratory system," Erin questioned.

"That's exactly it," Leila replied with a smile. "A location in the body where chi is concentrated is called a pressure point or a meridian point. For that reason, some ancients use to call this the meridian system. There are twelve main meridian points and few smaller ones throughout the body. For this reason, chi blocking is usually done by hitting points on the body in multiples of twelve."

Erin nodded his head. The information was a bit abstract and hard for him to envision but it seemed to make sense.

"The points are very sensitive. You must hit them with the correct pressure, order, and timing to get the result you want. Depending on what points you choose, and a few other factors, you can paralyze a certain part of the body, paralyze the whole body but leave them conscience, knock someone unconscious, cause immense pain, a burning sensation, or death."

Erin's eyes went wide. "Immense pain, burning, and death?"

"Yes."

"But I've only ever seen you knock people unconscious, or sometimes you paralyze them while leaving them conscience."

"I'm not interesting in torturing my opponents. I only want to do enough to get them out of my way."

"Leila, your pretty compassionate aren't you," Erin complimented.

"Not really. It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth when I feel a flow of chi disappearing. When you become highly synchronized with chi energy, including that of your opponent's, killing begins to lose its appeal. Anyways, there are a few more basics you should know. The pressure points, or meridian, are more responsive from the front of someone's body rather than the back. For example, I need to hit someone twenty four times from the front if I want to paralyze them but leave them conscience. To get the same result, I have to hit them forty eight times if I strike them from behind. Basically, the number of hits will double."

"Why are the points more sensitive from the front?"

"It has to do with the way the energy flows, not just where the energy is. That conversation might be a bit too complicated for you to understand right now though, so I'll explain it some other time."

Erin nodded. "Then have we covered all the basic now?"

"I think I've gone over most of it."

"Wow…"

"Hmmm?" Leila looked at the blond with curiosity. "What's so wow?"

"It's just that…chi blocking sounds so amazing. I mean you can get all these results by using your opponent's own body against themself. It just seems like you can easily take down whoever you want," Erin stated with wide-eyed excitement.

"Not exactly," Leila cut in. "Imagine you have to face an enemy wearing very heavy, steal armor instead of a regular shirt. You can try to hit them, but their pressure points are protected by the armor. Also, if your opponent already knows you are a chi blocker they can choose to use long range attacks and keep their distance. As long as you can't physically get close to them, you also can't hurt them. Or if you're in a situation when you can't move your hands…you'll be completely helpless. Well, unless you know how to use your feet too, but it would still be a bad situation. In reality, chi blocking actually has a lot of weaknesses and sometimes it can be dangerous to rely on it too heavily."

"Oh…I guess I never really noticed those details."

"Just keep it in the back of your mind."

"Okay. By the way Leila, if you're finished explaining I'm ready to start my training as soon as possible!"

Leila nodded and sat down with her legs crossed in front of Erin. She took a slow breath in and exhaled. Closing her eyes, she sat in silent concentration. Erin looked at the girl in confusion. After a few minutes passed he couldn't help but break the silence.

"...Ummm…Leila?"

The brown haired girl let her eyes lazily open.

"Your first task is to become aware of the chi flowing within your own body. If you can't even handle that much you'll never be able to detect it flowing in someone else," she stated firmly.

"The chi inside my own body…" Erin looked down at his hands. "But how do I do something like that?"

"You need to concentrate. Center yourself and clear your mind. Keep your breathing at a steady, gentle pace and match it with the rhythm of your heartbeat. The most important element is to not try to control your body. Let your body harmonize with you."

"Okay," Erin replied, his brows wrinkled with confusion. "I'll try it."

He crossed his legs, closed his eyes, and started to slowly inhale and exhale. Leila stared at the medical assistant. She could tell he was trying hard, but all her years of training made it clear to her that Erin wasn't connecting with his life energy right now. Sure enough, after a half hour had slowly creaked by the man sighed and opened his eyes.

"I can't do it," he stated, looking extremely downcast. "How long did it take you to do it when you were first learning Leila?"

"A month."

"Oh…wait, what?! A month? Then how long did it take you to master all of chi blocking?"

"I haven't mastered it."

"You're kidding right?"

Leila let out a small sigh. "Look…you can't just learn to do this overnight Erin. If you're willing to give up after trying the very first exercise for a half hour this technique really isn't for you."

"I'm not giving up! I'll keep trying it everyday," he replied with his determination returning.

Leila gave a nod of approval. "That's the spirit. By the way Erin, something has been bothering me since we met."

"Really? What is it?"

"If you hate fighting so much then why would you become a pirate?"

The medical assistant froze, surprised that he had been asked such a thing. He looked down at his hands and shifted uncomfortably.

"Sorry, you don't have to tell me if it's personal."

The blond man furiously shook his head.

"No, it's nothing like that. I was just surprised you asked." He looked up at the ceiling lost within his own thoughts for a moment. "I grew up in North blue," he started. "I lived alone with my older sister-Serena. My mother had been killed in a village raid by a gang of mountain thieves shortly after my birth and my father was a raging drunk that left us when I was five, so things were a bit rough. My older sister was more affected than me though since she took on most of the responsibility of taking care of me and somehow supporting the two of us."

"Oh…I'm sorry to hear that."

"No, don't feel bad. The two of us were happy together. Everyday was happy and exciting. I still remember being scolded by Serena after coming home dirty from playing out in the rain. Or the way she would look at me with great disapproval if I didn't finish all the food she had made. Despite our circumstances, she always had the most beautiful smile on her face and she never complained."

"Wait," Leila interrupted. "The way you're talking…don't tell me…"

Erin gave her a sad smile. "I was 16 when she passed away from an unknown illness. I felt so helpless and angry that I couldn't do anything for her. I swore that I would never just watch someone I cared about pass away like that again."

"So the reason you want to become a doctor is because of your sister?"

Erin nodded.

"I met captain a little after that incident. I was so amazed with his medical abilities…it just completely blew my mind how much he knew about medicine. I had thought to myself that if only I had been as great as captain when Serena had first fallen ill…then maybe I could have saved her. He became my goal and I begged him to take me on as an apprentice at the time. It took a while for me to convince him but eventually he let me join his crew. I've been travelling with the Heart pirates ever since."

Leila looked at the blond man in consideration. She had never expected Erin, who always seemed to be so light-hearted and innocent, to have such a past. It made her realize for the first time how little she probably knew about everyone on the sub, despite the fact several months had already passed since she first joined them. She placed a gentle hand over his.

"You really are a lot more amazing than I gave you credit for Erin. I'm sure you'll be able to become a great doctor." She looked into his eyes and gave him a small smile.

"Thank you. It really means a lot." Erin looked like there was something else he wanted to say, but suddenly he jumped to his feet in a heavy panic.

"What happened," Leila asked.

"I just remembered the medical reports! Captain told me to get them done before lunch. Sorry Leila, I have to run but thank you again. I'll practise everyday until I manage to get it right!"

"Let me know when you manage to finish your first assignment so I can give you your next lesson," she replied.

"Of course!" He ran out of the room, but peaked his head back into the door way after a second. "I almost forgot to tell you something," he called out.

"Yeah?" Leila tilted her head slightly in curiosity.

"I'm glad I met you."

With that being said the frantic medical assistant ran off to complete his medical reports. Leila simply sat in her room stunned by the unexpected statement. _I'm glad I met you._

She smiled. Maybe being a pirate wouldn't be so bad after all.


	14. Unexpected Meeting

Author's note:

Gahhhh, this chapter felt like it was moving too fast and not really covering things in enough detail…I mean, it's intended to be a "set-up" for next chapter mostly and a few things down the line so maybe it's not so bad? Maybe..? Yeah, I don't know. I'm sorry if this chapter was just bad and horrible to read. Please forgive me. *headbangs*

Side note: Yue is supposed to be pronounced "You-eh" (at least in Japanese that's how they pronounce it)

* * *

**Unexpected Meeting**

"Look at this. The girl is still alive after all."

A red haired man smirked as he playfully waved a brown paper in front of his pale companion. His yellow, tiger-like eyes danced as he licked his lips. How sweet that his lovely prey had shown herself. The pale, white haired man that the red head had been showing the poster to simply turned to face him with cold, unforgiving eyes.

"She should have died," he stated in a cruel tone. "How is she still alive?"

"Clearly you didn't do enough to kill her since she still looks very much alive and well. She even evaded those Thunder pirates I sent after her pretty easily. Well, not like I actually thought such garbage would be good enough to throw her off."

The white haired man reached out and took the paper. He looked down at the picture in disgust.

"135 million belli. So she's causing trouble here as well."

"Aren't you glad? It gives you an excuse to go after her," the red head replied.

"Yes, this time I will make sure she doesn't get away."

"Do I get to play with her first though?" A sadistic smirk contorted the man's handsome face into a terrifying sight. The white haired man simply sneered at his companion.

"I have things to settle with her. You will stay out of my way," he answered.

"I've been trying to capture her for too long to accept your request."

"I won't hesitate to kill you if you interfere."

"How hurtful. Then how about a competition?" The red head's eyes were glowing with excitement over the prospects of a hunt.

"What are you proposing?"

"A race. Whoever gets to her first gets to kill her."

"Why do you want her?"

"She is my prey. I still have many theories and delightful experiments I'd like to test out on her. Are you worried I'll get to her before you can," the red head mocked.

"Know your place you damn sadist," the pale skinned man hissed with venom.

"Why, thank you. What a wonderful compliment. Anyways, should I take it that you've accepted my proposition?"

Icy grey eyes locked with the red head's fiery gaze. The pale man snickered once more, his lips curled into a wicked grin.

"Very well. Let's see who can catch the girl first."

* * *

Leila gazed out at the snowy landscape of the latest island they had docked at from the deck of the sub. Her breath formed small clouds as she breathed and she kept her hands in the pockets of the black jacket she had bought on the last island to keep warm. Otto, on the other hand, seemed totally unfazed by the cold.

"We finally got to another island! Thank god! I thought I'd go insane if I had to stay another day holed away in the sub," he happily exclaimed.

"But why did the island have to be this damn cold," Blake grumbled with a cigarette in his mouth.

"Blake! Please refrain from smoking so much," Erin chided.

"I need something to warm me up. I'm use to always being near a forge so I hate the cold," he retaliated.

"It's not that cold," Bepo innocently chimed in.

"Shut up Bepo. That's because you have fur," Shachi exclaimed.

"I'm sorry." The white bear hung his head downcast.

"Hey, stop complaining so much guys. It's been forever since we got to an island with snow," Otto cut in.

"That's right. The last time was when we met Leila wasn't it," Penguin questioned out loud. "The two places almost look the exact same."

"This island is inhabited though," Leila answered, finally joining the conversation. She pointed to the horizon. "There's smoke rising from over there. It might be from the chimney of someone's house so there's probably a small town or village located here."

"Inhabited huh." Blake exhaled a puff of smoke. "Where there are people there's always a bar."

"Alright! We were running low on sake." Otto was beaming with excitement.

"Both of you need to stop drinking so much," Erin stated with a frown. "Do you have any idea what alcohol does to your liver?"

"Lighten up already Erin. Besides, everyone knows the best part of bars is the women," Penguin cut in with a sly grin. The other men on the deck roared with agreement.

_"Booze and women!"_ they chanted loudly.

"Ah, but we still think you're the cutest Leila-chan," one man added in afterwards, making the girl smile.

"If all of you are done wasting time now, the sub needs to be restocked," Law cut in, walking onto the deck to finally join his crew.

All the men were silenced by their captain's voice and quickly got back to work. Forming small groups, they set out towards the town. Leila was about to explore the island as well but she felt a firm hand grip her arm. She turned towards the dark captain and raised a brow.

"Something I can help you with Mr. captain," she playfully asked. Law's eyes studied the girl from under the brim of his fur hat.

"You're coming with me," he replied.

"For what purpose?"

"Picking up some new medical books."

"Wouldn't Erin be more suited to accompany you for that?"

"He's restocking on medicine," the dark captain countered smoothly. Leila looked at the man suspiciously. He wasn't the type to do anything without a purpose.

"Fine," she answered wearily, silently bracing herself for whatever the man was planning. "Let's go."

* * *

Law and Leila walked through the town that had been blanketed in white, leaving tracks in the snow. The town was extremely small compared to the large city they had docked at previously but it still had a decent population, a bar, and a few shops for restocking on supplies. The two quietly drifted into a bookstore located at the corner of a street.

"Try to find medical books specific to illnesses that can be found in this region," Law instructed.

Leila simply nodded and walked around the shop, turning at random bookshelves and lazily examining the titles perched on the wooden shelves. Once she knew she was hidden from Law's watchful gaze she started to scan the shelves for a different book. There was something that she needed to find out. After searching for an hour she finally found what she was looking for. She took the book off the shelf, opened it and started to read a passage out loud.

"The title of shichibukai, or Seven Warlords of the Sea, is given to notorious pirates who have reached an agreement with the World Government to stop all illegal activities, pelage loyalty to the government, and give up their title as a pirate. In exchange, the government removes or freezes their bounty and allows them to travel freely. The shichibukai help the government in times of need and keep other pirates in line," she murmured under her breath. Her brows wrinkled in concentration as she absorbed the information. So this is what Law was collecting hearts to achieve.

"Have you found something useful Ms. Leila?"

She closed the book quickly and turned slowly to see Law standing behind her. She frowned, putting the hard cover back in its place.

"No, just got a little side tracked. I'll check for more medical books on the other side."

"I've already collected all the books I need so that is no longer necessary."

"In that case, I assume I'm free to go. Or is there something else you would like me to accompany you for?"

The pirate captain was silent for a moment, analyzing the girl and carefully calculating the situation. He was unable to think of anything to keep the girl with him any longer than he already had. Then again, he could try to order her, but she never seemed to respond very well when he did. From the corner of his eye he noticed the girl giving him a sideways glance, waiting for a response. Realizing he was taking too long, he decided to simply let the girl go for the time being.

"You're free to go. Head back to the sub."

As Leila headed back outside Law silently regarded the book she had just put back on the shelf. He reached to pull the book out once more and read the title: _Seven Warlords of the Sea._ He looked down at the cover lost in concentration as he tried to decipher her strange actions. Why had she been interested in this? Most information about the shichibukai was already common knowledge. Putting the hard cover back in its place Law proceeded out of the book store.

Something wasn't adding up and he would find out what.

* * *

Leila aimlessly wondered through the town, her breath forming small clouds as she walked. It had surprised her that Law hadn't done anything to her in the bookstore. Maybe the man had been honest about really just wanting some help looking for a few medical books, not that she had been much help either way.

Leila wasn't really interested in going back to sub yet since there wasn't really anything for her to do until lunch. To kill her boredom she had thought that the town might be a fun option. However, the buildings were limited and there wasn't much that held her attention for very long. She was about to go back as she had originally been instructed when something caught her attention.

She stopped walking and closed her eyes. Exhaling deeply she cleared her mind and focused. In the distance she could feel something familiar, an energy she had encountered before. She concentrated, allowing herself to feel the chi that was around her, a tingling sensation spreading throughout her body.

Behind her was a warm collection of energy that belonged to people living peacefully in the village. A few feet away was the dull energy of a tree swaying in the wind. Twenty meters southeast was another small collection of chi, probably a snow rabbit wondering the landscape. To the left, approximately fifteen meters from the rabbit, was the familiar collection of energy. She opened her eyes slowly and started to move towards the location she had pinpointed. There was only one person she knew that might be out in the Grand Line.

Leila's feet came to a steady stop when she finally spotted a woman. The woman was tall and slender, and she wore a long robe that gave away her luscious hourglass figure and perfectly displayed her large cleavage. Her skin was a tanned brown, but her most stunning feature was her lovely white hair that shone like silver under the rays of sunlight. She was in her thirties but looked much younger than her age. Mischievous purple eyes locked with Leila's own and the woman turned to give the girl a warm greeting.

"My oh my, what have we here? It's so good to see you again Leila," the woman chimed in a melody-like voice.

"Yue, what are you doing here? You were in North Blue the last time we met."

"Well, I got bored over there so I decided to go to where all the fun is. Isn't the Grand Line just _marvellous_," she exaggerated, flamboyantly swinging herself in a full circle and kicking up a mist of snow with the edges of her robes. Her large breast shook with each movement, her revealing outfit not doing much to keep them in place.

Leila simply sighed. The woman had always been this way.

"Relax my dear," the woman stated. "I'm here on some business, but I'm glad to see your still doing well. You were in such horrible shape when we reunited in North Blue."

"Oh." Leila paused for a second, collecting her thoughts. "Yeah, but I'm doing a lot better now. Thanks again for helping me out back then."

The woman waved the comment away like an irritating fly.

"Nonsense, no need to thank me for that," she smoothly replied. "I gained quite a profit from it. Moving onto more important matters, I assume you've come to Grand Line to get to that island?"

"Yes. It's been a pretty tedious journey though. It seems like there's still a ways more for me to go before I can actually get there."

"Say hello to Mira for me once you get there. Of course, I doubt that child would want to hear about anything I have to tell her." The woman gazed off into the distance, a brief look of distaste crossing her beautiful face. Leila stared at the woman, trying to think of a good way to address the sensitive issue.

"I'll let her know," she replied, forming the words carefully in her mouth. The woman only gave her a bitter smile.

"No need for you get involved in such matters my dear. Family matters should say within the family. More importantly, I'm not quite sure how she'll react to the new hobby you've picked up along the way."

"New hobby?" Leila wrinkled her brows in confusion.

"Yes, your recent interest in pirating?"

"Oh." Leila chewed on the inside of her mouth. "I really had no intension of any of that. It just sort of happened."

"Is that so?" Yue looked at the girl with a sarcastic smirk.

"No, I'm serious. One thing just sort of led to another and before I even knew it, well…" Leila shrugged her shoulders. "Somehow here I am."

"My, what a carefree attitude. That's how you end up finding yourself pregnant by someone you don't even like-by just letting it happen!"

"I fail to see the correlation," Leila responded flatly, not amused by the woman's commentary.

"My point darling is that you should have more control over what direction your life takes. Well, not that I care about what you choose to do with yourself. I'm just curious though…What will you do now that you've alerted the government of your presence? It'll make it harder for you to get to island with them chasing after you."

"Well, I doubt they have any previous records of me stored anywhere so it should be alright."

"Maybe…but someone else might give away who you are."

Leila raised a brow at the woman in disbelief. "Would you really do something like that to me Yue?"

"Of course I have no interest in such a thing. I wouldn't gain anything out of it. In fact, I might get the government to kill me if I did. They'd want to silence me to erase any evidence after all."

"Then who could possibly give me away?"

The older woman gave a mischievous grin.

"There are others who are here," she replied, her eyes gleaming as Leila absorbed the shocking revelation.

"Who else is here? Do you know," she eagerly asked.

"If I told you it would ruin all the fun. Besides, since you've already alerted the whole world of your presence with your bounty poster I'm sure you will meet them soon enough. They might even come to see you."

"Stop playing games Yue," Leila demanded, starting to get irritated with the woman's elusive responses.

"Oh dear, look at the time. I must be going now. It was good to catch up and chat again though." The woman flashed an evil grin as her body began to fade away.

Leila gritted her teeth and began running through the snow at a breakneck pace. Yue might be able to teleport quickly but the woman could only travel small distances at a time. If Leila used the faint trail of chi Yue had left behind she might be quick enough to be able to catch the woman when she reappeared. Concentrating on the trail of energy, Leila navigated the icy landscape with ease.

She was making good progress, using her acrobatics to help her keep up with the trail of energy that was quickly fading away, but her muscles suddenly started to tense and she felt her body freeze.

"Dammit," she shrieked, gasping in pain as her body crashed into the snow. "Why right now?"

She curled up into a tight ball and tried to stay conscience through the episode of intense pain. Her muscles felt like they were being torn apart and her joints were aflame with a horrible burning sensation. Breathing heavily, she tried to push herself up with a shaky arm, but putting pressure on her arm made her feel like she was about to snap the bone in half. Lying on the frozen ground, she trembled with hot frustration and agony. The chi trail had completely faded away by now and there was no way for her track the woman anymore.

"Dammit," she cursed loudly. "Come back Yue!"

* * *

Trafalgar Law frowned as he walked through the halls of his sub, thoughts of the blue eyed girl rampaging through his mind. So many things just didn't seem to add up about her. For one, she didn't seem to be afraid of him, despite the fact that he held her life in his hands. The girl might just be masking her fear but something she had told him was stuck in his mind.

_Death has been knocking on my doorstep for a bit too long for me to still be afraid of it._

What had she meant by that? He was most likely reading too much into it. The girl might have just been referring to the fact that she had been braving the dangers of the Grand Line for a very long time on her own, but the statement still bothered him.

Then there was her personality. At times she seemed to be very expressive, opening displaying how she felt, but then there were moments when she seemed to lock herself away completely and refuse to express her true feelings. It was such an odd combination since she never seemed to be just one or the other. It was always a strange bipolar mix of the two.

And now there was the newest clue: the library. He had invited her along on purpose in the hopes that he would be able to take the opportunity to get under the girl's skin a bit more and maybe trick her into revealing some more information about herself, but the girl had skillfully been avoiding him for the entire hour they were there. When he finally found her she was reading a book about the shichibukai. The way she acted when she found out he was near made it obvious she didn't want him to know what she had been reading, but why would she need to hide such a thing? It was possible that she had been searching for the book because she didn't know what a shichibukai was and was too embarrassed to ask when he told her about his plan, but it just seemed too unlikely. Information about the shichibukai was common knowledge to everyone. There was no way that the girl wouldn't know, but then what else would she have wanted the book for?

"Captain!"

Law looked up, slightly angry he had been interrupted from his thoughts. Running towards him was his first mate, head navigator and medical assistant, all out of breath and looking very panicked.

"Captain," Bepo gasped, "There's an emergency!"

The anger quickly faded from Law face as he took charge of the situation.

"What's going on," he demanded, tightly gripping his nodachi and ready for a fight. His first mate gave him a worried reply.

"Leila has gone missing!"


	15. Together in the Cold

Author's Note:

Finally got some REAL romance initiating (although Law doesn't have any feelings for her yet). Gosh, took so long for me to get around to this, but I just didn't want to rush into it and make sure Leila properly integrated into the crew first. I'm sorry if I sorta mess up and make Law a bit out of character, but I tried my best to keep him as close to his character as possible.  
Anyways, hope you guys like this chapter! I know I had been looking forward to writing it for a while! :D

Side note: "Obaasan" = old lady/grandma…because everyone good story needs one of those xD

* * *

**Together in the Cold**

"Leila has gone missing," Bepo exclaimed, his white paws waving in a frantic motion.

"Missing…?" Law looked at his first mate in confusion. He had sent the girl back to the sub merely a few hours a go. How could she be missing?

"We can't find her anywhere and Scot says she never came back to help him with lunch either. There's no way she would forget to do something like that," Erin cut in with a worried expression on his face.

"She might be in trouble. What should we do captain," Otto urgently added.

"Gather everyone you can and divide into small teams. Split up and search the town, as well as the surrounding area to find her," Law ordered, taking charge of the situation.

"Aye aye captain!" they screamed in unison before running off to gather any men on the sub.

Law's eyes turned dark from under the shadow of his hat. Had the girl run off? No, she knew he could kill her if she tried to do such a thing. With a frown he marched over to the infirmary and quickly gathered some emergency medical supplies. If the girl hadn't run off then she had to be injured or somehow unable to return to the sub. With his preparations done he tucked a few small bottles of medicine into the pocket of his black coat and headed out on his own.

Law quickly searched through the town, using his devil fruit powers to teleport and efficiently cover as much area as he could. After completing his search around the town for the third time he stopped and glared at the sky, a scowl on his face. Where had she gone? It was starting to get on his nerves that he was unable to locate her. Out of frustration, he finally decided to resort to asking one of the residents of the town. He located an old woman passing by and quickly marched over to her.

"Obaasan, have you seen a girl around here," he questioned. "Blue eyes, brown hair, a slender frame and pretty face?"

The old woman looked at Law and gained a slightly pink glow on her sagging cheeks.

"Oh my, such a handsome young fellow! Are you looking for your girlfriend? I hope she didn't run off on you because you had a fight." She placed a hand over her mouth and started to chuckle to herself, making Law glare.

"She's not my girlfriend. Have you seen her?" His tone had gained a sharp edge to it but the old woman seemed oblivious to it.

"How wonderful to be young and in love. I think I saw her exist the town and going towards the mountain area to the southeast. Make sure you kiss and make up when you find her!"

The old woman continued to chuckle to herself, but Law ignored her and starting going in the direction she had pointed to.

* * *

Leila let out a small groan as another wave of pain washed over her. Her breathing was heavy as she forced herself to continue walking through the snowy landscape. A heavy gust of wind forcefully blew in her direction, threating to knock the girl over, but she tensed the muscles in her legs and managed to stay upright.

Somehow she needed to quickly get back to the sub. A storm had started and if she didn't hurry she might be caught in a full blown blizzard, an all too familiar and unwelcomed memory. Looking around helplessly, she swore under her breath.

Exactly which way was back to the sub? The snow had covered the tracks she had previously left behind, leaving the blue eyed girl clueless as to which direction she should continue walking. There were no distinctive landmarks for her to use and the storm seemed to be getting worse by the minute. The cold was already unbearable and chilled her to the very bone.

Falling to her knees, the girl tightly wrapped her arms around herself, trying to keep herself warm. In the condition she was in, her body wouldn't be able to last much longer. She needed to time to rest and regain her energy after going through an episode, but if she rested in the middle of the icy field frostbite would leave her dead in no time.

Shivering bitterly, she tried to keep her hopes up. All she needed to do was last a little longer. Someone from the sub was bound to notice she was missing by now. They might even already be looking for her. That's right, Law had surely sent out a search team by now. They would come for her.

The girl suddenly realized what she was doing and laughed bitterly as her memory wafted back to her first encounter with the dark captain. He had told her to come back in time or he would leave without her. How sad that she was now trusting that same man to come for her. He was a pirate. It was probably far more likely that he thought she had attempted to run away and was now on his way to squeezing the life out of heart as punishment. To pretend he would actually care enough to come for her…what a foolishly optimistic thought.

The reality was, just because she had developed feelings for the pirate crew didn't mean that they had done the same. The thought left a bitter taste in her mouth and she felt her chest tighten painfully, making it even harder to breath. She chewed on the delicate flesh on the inside her mouth, trying to keep her emotions under control. She was being so stupid. Why was she feeling this way? Why did it hurt her so much to think that she was meaningless to them? To that man? Her hand clenched, closing around a fistful of cold snow.

"Law," she whispered under her breath.

"You called, Ms. Leila?"

The girl slowly lifted her head, gazing at the man in front of her with wide eyes. She stared at him with a mixture of disbelief and relief, her stomach feeling like it was doing backflips.

"What…are you doing here," she asked, her voice so faint it was almost inaudible.

"That should be my question. I thought I told you to go back to the sub," he responded. His voice was firm but it lacked its normal sharp, authoritative edge.

"Sorry." The girl offered him a weary smile. She tried to muster up her remaining energy to stand, but her body refused to listen.

"What's wrong," Law asked. "Can't you get up?"

"No, I'm fine." She tried once more and forced her acing body to get up. It didn't matter how tired she felt. She didn't want to show anyone, especially the pirate captain, signs of weakness. Law simply stared at the girl, his eyes concealed beneath the shallow of his fur hat. He looked around the icy landscape as the two of them were subjected to the cold touch of wind and snow.

"The storm has gotten very bad. For now we should find shelter and head back to the sub after it has subdued," he stated, his voice calm and unwavering.

"Where are we supposed to find shelter all the way out here," the girl questioned, slightly taken aback by how unphased the pirate captain appeared to be with the notion of being stranded out in the middle of a blizzard.

"I passed by a cave on the way here." He pointed to the direction. "We'll stay there for the time being."

Without warning he closed in on the girl and wrapped an arm around her, pressing her body closely against his own. He lifted his free hand and activated his devil fruit powers.

_"Room. Shambles." _

Before Leila had enough time to complain the pair was transported to the entrance of the cave. He let go of her, walked inside, and took a seat on ground. Placing his nodachi next to him, Law closed his eyes and appeared to be ready to take a nap. Leila hesitated for a moment, but then followed suit, opting to take seat across of him so she could be as far away from pirate captain as possible.

Leila gazed at the man in silence, unsure of whether she should interrupt his nap or not. In the end, she decided it was better to leave the silence untouched. She curled up on the ground and tried to stay warm as the blizzard raged mercilessly a few feet away. She stared up at the ceiling of dark cave, but the effort made her head hurt. For whatever reason, the room felt like it spinning and the feeling left her in a pit of nausea. Her vision began to blur, but she kept quiet, not wanting to alert the dark doctor of her condition. Closing her eyes, she did her best to ease her body into slumber.

"You're shivering." Law's voice seemed to be magnified in the hollow cave and the sound pierced her ears in an almost painful manner.

"I'm fine. It's just a little cold out." She was careful to keep her voice steady when she responded.

"You're that cold even with a jacket on?"

"I'm surprised you're not, considering we're stuck in the middle of a blizzard."

"Come here," he commanded, lightly patting the ground next to him.

"I'm fine."

"Ms. Leila, that was an order, not a request."

The girl sighed. She didn't have energy. Why did he need to bother her even at a time like this? Careful to mask any pain she was feeling as she pushed herself to sit upright, she slowly walked to the other side of the cave and took a seat next to Law. She looked at the floor, unsure of what to make of the situation.

"Look at me."

The girl frowned, but she did as she was told. As soon as she turned to face the pirate she felt him place a cool hand on her forehead.

"I knew it," the dark doctor stated, more to himself than to the girl. "You have a high fever."

"I'm fine," the girl repeated for the third time. She shuffled a bit further away from the man to try and escape his reach. Law however, did not agree to her doing so. He reached out and grasped her arm with a firm grip, preventing the girl from leaving his side. With his free hand he undid the front of his black coat, revealing a yellow and black hoodie underneath.

"What are you doing," Leila asked, a frown on her face. Her head was hurting badly and she didn't feel like figuring out the confusing actions of the pirate captain.

In response Law pulled the girl closer to him once more and, with one fluid movement, pulled down the zipper to her jacket as well. He pulled the jacket off of her and wrapped both his arms around her, pressing her against his chest. At this point, the girl started to resist him.

"Let me go," she angrily yelled. "Are you out of your mind? Who undresses in the middle of a _blizzard?_"

"The best way for you stay warm right now is to share body heat. Of course, it works better when your naked, which I don't have a problem with, but I had a feeling you might complain," he lazily replied, seeming to be unphased by being so close.

"I don't care about a little fever. I'd rather have my jacket back." Leila tried to push against Law's chest with all her strength, but the man's hold on her was far stronger. She struggled for a while with no luck.

"Taking medicine with also held reduce your fever. I have some in my pocket," he stated, ignoring all the girl's protest.

At this point Leila was starting to feel extremely frustrated. Childish stubbornness coursed through her veins. She didn't care if medicine helped. She didn't want to accept any help from the man holding her down against her will.

"I don't want your medicine," she stubbornly replied.

"You will swallow it."

Law reached into his pocket and brought out a brown bottle filled with some liquid. Leila's cheeks flared up at having been dismissed by the man so easily.

"No, I won't. Stop acting like you can always get me to do whatever you want," she angrily exclaimed. She turned her face away from him to prevent him from pouring the medicine into her mouth.

"I'll tell you only one more time," Law hissed, starting to get irritated by the girl's disobedience. "You will drink it."

"No."

Heavy silence stretched between the two. The cold anger in Law's eyes was unsettling, but Leila wasn't worried until she suddenly saw his angry expression replaced by a smirk. Whenever he smiled like that, it meant he was going to do something she really wouldn't like. Not wanting to wait around to see what the pirate captain did next, Leila forcefully slammed both her hands as hard as she could into the man's chest. His grip loosened for a moment and she took the opportunity to try and get away from him, but in the end she wasn't fast enough.

Law reached out and easily managed to pull on the girl's right leg as she tried to get up, causing her fall onto the ground in front of him. She let out a groan from the painful impact, giving Law enough time to climb on top of her and pin both her arms above her head with a single hand. She turned her head sideways, wanting to make it more difficult for the pirate captain to bring the bottle close to her mouth, but her rebellion against him was useless.

From the corner of her eye she saw Law lift the brown bottle and…drink from it himself? Before she had a chance to understand his sinister plan, she felt him grasp the tip of her chin, forcing her to look at him.

"What are you-"

Her words were cut off when Law's lips crashed against her own.

Leila's mind went completely blank.

The kiss was hot and made her body feel like it was being set on fire. His mouth sensually moved against hers, leaving the girl powerless to fight against him. He gently bit down on the bottom of her lip, making her let out a small gasp. Law let the liquid medicine slide down her throat, a small trickle of it forming at the corner of her mouth and sliding down the side of her cheek. He lowered his body, letting it gently press against hers, and deepened the kiss by sliding his tongue into the girl's mouth. She let out a small moan as she felt him exploring the interior of her mouth and playing with her tongue. Sensation of intense pleasure shot through her trembling frame as the man continued to hungrily taste her.

Leila's eyes snapped opened when she realized what she was doing. She broke the kiss with a gasp, her face a crimson red as she tried to catch her breath. From the corner of her eye she could see the pirate captain smirking with satisfaction. It made her want to scream, yell at him angrily, but her body felt oddly sluggish. Her eyelids grew heavy and she struggled to keep them open.

"Oh, by the way, the medicine induces heavy, instantaneous drowsiness and…"

Leila watched Law's lips move, unable to catch the rest of what he said. Her eyes closed and she felt herself slip away into a deep slumber.

* * *

"_Leila! Get up Leila! We need to go." The young girl opened her sleepy eyes and sat up in her bed._

_ "Mama? What's wrong?"_

_ "Just get dressed. We don't have time."_

_ "Where are we going?" _

_ "Don't worry. It's another town, with lots of fun things to do." The woman's face wore a smile but her voice sounded strained and very upset. _

_ "Where's papa? I want to see him."_

_ "We can't see him right now."_

_ "Is he coming home soon? We can't go without him."_

_ The slender woman placed a soft hand on top of the small hand of the young girl. _

_ "Don't worry," she reassured. "Your papa is a strong and fast man. He'll be able to catch up with us."_

_ BAM! BAM! BAM!_

_ The horrible sound echoed throughout the small house, terrifying the small child. She looked with wide eyes as the door to her room was violently broken down and a flood of men, all dressed in white and blue uniforms, marched into her small room. _

_ "Tear D. Heartfilia, you're coming with us," one of the men screamed in an authoritative voice. _

_ The girl's mother stiffened when she saw the soldiers and hissed something under her breath. _

_ "Leila, stay behind me," she commanded. _

_ "Don't worry, your little brat is coming along too. Oi, somebody grab the kid," the same man ordered. _

_ "Bastard, touch her and I'll make sure you can never use your hands again," the woman hissed in a threatening tone. _

_ The small girl behind her held onto fistfuls of her mother's dress, her entire body shaking._

_ "Mama, what's happening? I'm scared." Just as the small, terrified child finished her statement the man that appeared to be the leader of the group took out a gun and pointed it at the child's mother. _

_ "Trying to show me attitude eh? Too bad you're not the one we need alive bitch," he snarled. With an evil grin at the corner of his lips and a small flick of his finger, he pulled the trigger. _


	16. Welcome Home

Author's note (rant and apologies):

I wanted to upload the next part a lot faster than this but somehow I ended up busy over my break as well. My dad decided to take on a gigantic project of renovating the basement and I've been spending a lot of time helping him out. Anyways, I'm hoping to officially start managing my time better from now on so please be patient with me. I feel horrible since this is the longest I've gone without updating another chapter. O-o

More importantly, a huge thank you to everyone that had been supporting me and leaving such wonderful comments! Most people seem happy with how I executed the kiss scene last chapter so I'm glad I didn't butcher it too badly. (I don't have much confidence since this is basically my first serious fanfiction.)

Moving on, this chapter I try to switch into Law's perspective for a while so I'll do my best to not make him OOC. The point was to sort of show that Law doesn't see Leila as a love interest at the moment. She's more like an interesting toy to play with actually, but of course, that can eventually be used as leverage for romance in the future. Anyways, on with the story!

* * *

**Welcome Home**

Movement. A rustle of fabric. Something had shifted. Trafalgar Law opened his eyes and quickly scanned his surroundings to find that the girl was no longer next to him. Instead she was standing at the entrance to the cave and staring out at the white landscape which seemed to endlessly stretch on into the amber horizon. It was dawn, and the sun had only begun to rise.

"Morning," the girl called out. She turned her piercing blue eyes towards him. "I see you don't sleep much."

Law examined the girl, cautious of how to proceed after the events of last night, but the girl didn't seem to be showing any signs of hostility towards him at the moment. He had expected her to be extremely angry with him, but instead she was unusually calm. However, the most daunting matter of the situation was the fact that the girl shouldn't have been able to wake up before him. The drug should have forced her to stay asleep well into the late afternoon, and yet she had gotten up before the break of dawn. Exactly what was going on here?

"The blizzard has stopped." Her voice tore him away from addressing the thoughts in his mind.

"Then we can proceed back to the sub shortly," he replied.

"Shortly? Why not now?" Her voice held a slight hint of curiosity.

"There are a few matters which should be addressed first."

The girl simply gazed at him. Despite all this time Law still hadn't gotten used to her unabashed way of always staring at him dead on. Her eyes locked with his in a way that made the pirate captain feel as if she was trying to decipher everything he was down to the bare bone. They were eyes different from anything he had encountered before; large and an expressive blue, but somehow etched with a sort of hollow emptiness, like she had already seen the world in all its brilliant cruelty despite her tender age.

The girl sat down across the cave from him and silently regarded his presence. After a brief pause of silence she spoke again.

"And exactly what matters are you referring to?"

Law studied the girl's face, but it was expressionless. A face she showed him often.

"Why would you come out here instead of going back to the sub," he asked.

"I felt like it."

"You felt like wondering into a blizzard?"

"There wasn't a storm when I left the town."

Law let out an inward sigh. The girl was impossibly stubborn at times. Why was she always so difficult? He decided to move onto to something else and see if he would receive a better answer.

"Why were you reading a book about the shichibukai?"

"I didn't know what they were," she bluntly admitted.

This surprised Law. "It's common knowledge."

"Perhaps it's common to you, but not to me."

"Where were you born that was so isolated you had never heard of the Seven Warlords of the Sea?"

"I was born on an isolated island in the Grand Line. My parents and I were the only inhabitants of the island."

"And you decided to try and find the information in secrecy rather than ask someone?"

"Because of my circumstance, I lack a lot of knowledge of this world which is regarded as 'common'. When I ask people about these matters, which I suppose is so common it almost seems trivial to others, I get bombarded with a lot of questions and receive strange glances. In the end, it's simply less troublesome to find out the information on my own."

With that being said the pair fell into silence once more. Law continued to stare at the blue eyed girl from across the cave but the girl seemed preoccupied in staring at the glittering snow that begun to sparkle brightly under the rays of the rising sun outside the rocky shelter. Law noted that the girl appeared to have regained most of her energy and her cheeks were no longer a ghastly white. The night before she had seemed to have been drained of most of her strength and had a high fever. Was she better now? His eyes briefly skimmed over the girl's slender frame. The girl stood up and faced him, as if she could feel she was being watched by him.

"Something on your mind," she inquired without much interest.

Law smirked and also stood up. He closed the distance between them and trapped the girl between himself and the wall of the cave, a hand above each of her shoulders. He leaned into her and brought his face closer to hers.

"Did my medicine help reduce your fever," he whispered into her ear, a smirk still playing at the corner of his lips.

"I'm feeling better," she stated coolly.

"Are you sure," Law teased, wanting to see if he could draw a reaction out of the girl. "I still have some more medicine if you're still not well."

"Mr. Trafalgar, I hope you're not looking for another excuse to kiss me."

"And what would you do if I said I was?"

This startled the girl. Her blue eyes grew slightly wider and her cheeks gained a slight pink glow, as if she had just become aware of how small the gap between them was. Something about her bewildered face drew Law towards her. Unlike other women he had encountered the in past, which had been quite experienced in the field of seduction, the girl before him now emitted a mystifying innocence that sparked Law's curiosity. What kind of expression would she show him if he closed the small gap between their lips right now? Would she tremble at his touch? How much could she take before she cried out his name?

"If you try it again," she replied, tearing Law away from his thoughts, "then I'll bite your tongue."

Law blinked a few times, staring at the girl's determined face. She had mistakenly not realized he was teasing her and now wore such an absurdly seriously expression that Law was unable to supress the laugher from leaving is lips. His voice echoed in the hollow cave, starling the girl. She started up at him and her confused face was quickly replaced by a flustered one.

"W-what's so funny?!" Her demanding tone only further added to Law's amusement. She almost looked like a frustrated child that had been excluded from knowing an important secret. Angry, she covered Law's mouth with her right hand to try and suppress his laughter.

"Stop laughing already," she demanded.

Law continued to smirk from under the concealment of her hand. He opened his mouth and playfully let his tongue slide over the delicate flesh of the girl's palm. Caught off guard once again, this time she let out a yelp and took another step backwards, promptly slammed her head against the wall of the cave. She hissed in pain as she held onto the back of her head with both her hands.

Oh, how amusing this girl's reactions were indeed, Law caught himself thinking. She never failed to entertain him.

"What's wrong," he innocently asked. "Do you need medicine for the pain?"

Blue eyes glared at him. Pushing him aside the girl walked to the entrance of the cave.

"We should get going," she stated simply. "Besides, I think you've given me more than medical treatment."

Law picked up his nodachi, the grin on his face unwavering. Teasing her had given him better results than he had expected. It would be interesting to play with her more later on, but for now he had left his pirate crew unattended for too long.

He followed the blue eyed girl out and the pair started their journey back to the Heart Pirate's submarine.

* * *

Otto was pacing briskly from one side of the wooden deck to another. Last night not only had Leila disappeared but his Captain had as well. Now it was already the next day and neither had appeared. The tension was driving him sick with worry.

"Stop pacing," Blake demanded. "Getting nervous won't help anyone."

"Shut up," Otto retorted. "I know you're just as worried as I am so don't act so damn tough."

"Captain is strong though," Bepo cut in. "I know he's fine."

"That's right, we just need to have confidence in them," Erin stated with a slight nod. "They'll definitely make it back by today."

"Did you even pay attention to the storm that happened last night? What if they got caught in it," Otto retorted, his voice straining slightly.

"Captain knows better than to get caught up in something like that. He probably managed to find shelter somewhere," Bepo calmly replied.

"Shut up Bepo! How would you even know how cold it is with all that fur? Humans don't take it as well as bears!"

"I'm sorry." The white bear hung his head low.

"Knock it off Otto. Leila would be angry with you for picking on Bepo again. Besides, you look so uncool worrying like a new bride or something." Blake let out a huff of smoke.

"Idiot, who you calling a bride?!" Otto's cheeks had turned a dark red.

"Blake-san, I've said so many times to retrain from smoking so much and Otto, don't yell so loudly," Erin cut in.

"I don't want to be told that by the guy that nearly cried last night when he found out the captain and Leila weren't coming back for the night," Otto grumbled under his breath, but still loud enough for Erin to hear.

"I WAS NOT," the medical assistant shrieked in a horrified tone.

"Now Erin is the one that needs to stop yelling," Bepo pointed out innocently, his black button eyes taking in the arguing trio of friends.

"Shut up Bepo!" The medical assistant lashed out.

"I'm sorry."

"Alright, enough already." Blake grabbed both Otto and Erin before they could get at each other's throats any more than they had already. "Take your catfight somewhere else. Nobody wants to clean blood off the deck."

Erin and Otto both sighed and called a truce on their arguing. Blake was mature enough to realize that fighting wouldn't help anyone and the two now felt childish for getting so worked up.

"But you know," Otto started, "You really are taking this situation better than I expected Erin. Normally, you would freak out a lot more."

"Ah…I guess so." The medical assistant hesitated and looked down nervously.

"Hmm?" Blake raised a curious brow. "Is there something you're not telling us Erin?"

"W-what? No, course not. Well…nothing of importance anyways…"

"Alright, you better fess up now." Otto placed a strong arm around his shoulders to prevent him from escaping. "What are you hiding from us?"

"Well, this might sound stupid but maybe the Captain and Leila aren't really stranded."

"HUH? What the hell? You better stop inhaling all those weird chemicals you use for medicine Erin. You're starting to go delusional," Otto exclaimed.

"Shut up and let him finish Otto," Blake impatiently cut in.

"Well…I was thinking that maybe they just wanted some…erm….alone time," Erin finished with hesitance in his voice.

"Alone time," Bepo repeated, tilting his head to one side.

"You mean…like a _date?_" Otto's eyes practically bulged out of his head.

"Ah well, sort of. I mean…what do you think Blake?" The medical assistant looked to the mechanic for help. Blake simply looked up at the clear sky, his arms cross in concentration.

"You really should wear a mask or something so you don't breathe so many chemicals in."

Erin felt his cheeks burning. "Shut up. Besides, it's not _that_ crazy is it?"

"Of course it is," Otto exclaimed. "Why would you even think something is going on between Leila and the captain? Those two don't ever seem to get along."

Erin let out a nervous laugh that almost verged on the border of hysteria. "Y-yea, you're right. I have no idea why I thought that. I mean, it's not like I saw anything in the infirmary or something. Anyways, the medical reports-"

"Hold on a second. Infirmary? What happened there?" Blake grabbed Erin's arm before he could escape.

"I didn't see anything! I definitely didn't see captain on top of Leila in a very misleading position! Definitely didn't see any of that at all," he nervously yelled out.

"Erin is such a poor liar," Bepo pointed out.

"They were getting it on in the _infirmary?!"_ Otto's face was a mixture of disbelief and curiosity.

"No, I didn't see captain pinning down her arms and trying to kiss her at all! I'm sure he was just checking to see if she had an infection or something on the inside of her mouth."

"You just keep making it worse the more you talk," Bepo stated.

"Oh. My. God. They were _making out_ in the infirmary?" Otto's voice seemed to rise to higher pitch with each word.

"I said I didn't see anything!" Erin was getting more and more flustered.

"It's okay Erin, no need to lie. I only have one question for you now," Blake interrupted, his face deathly serious.

"Q-question?" Erin looked at his friend in confusion.

"...Did he use tongue?"

Erin's entire body flashed a bright red as the medical assistant was rendered speechless.

_"BAKA! THAT'S NOT THE ISSUE HERE!"_ Otto slapped the back of Blake's head.

"He seems like the type, don't you think?" Blake shamelessly continued to question out loud, ignoring Otto's out-lash.

"He doesn't," the navigator retorted.

"Why not just ask him," Bepo questioned.

"Good idea." Blake nodded his approval.

"No, bad idea!" Erin looked like he was ready to faint from the stress of the situation. How had it even escalated to this?

"Are you _nuts,_" Otto questioned. "There's no way in hell we can ask the captain that!"

"Ask me what?"

The pirates fell into silence at the sound of the familiar voice. They each turned slowly to the source of the sound. Emerging from the direction of the town with Leila in tow, the dark captain walked onto the deck of his submarine.

* * *

"Ask me what?"

Trafalgar Law looked at his astounded crew without much regard.

"Erin, Blake, and Otto want to know if-" Bepo begun.

He was cut off when the navigator roughly covered his mouth with both his hands.

"Chores," Otto exclaimed in a panic stricken voice. "If there were any other chores we needed to finish in your absence."

Law silently regarded his crew from under the brim of his fur hat. It was an obvious lie but he didn't have much interest in what they were fussing over. It was probably something ridiculous again.

"Welcome back captain." The head mechanic gave a slight nod. "Leila, glad to see you back."

"Thank you Blake. I hope I didn't worry everyone too much." She offered a kind smile.

"Stupid, who would worry over you? I barely even noticed you were gone," Otto stubbornly lied, crossing his arms against his chest.

"But Otto, just a second a go you wouldn't calm down," Bepo added in, his black botton eyes unblinking.

"Idiot bear, don't expose people with such an innocent face!"

"I'm sorry"

Leila reach out and tugged on Otto's sleeve. "Don't pick on Bepo! And…sorry for worrying you."

"Ah…yea," Otto grumbled in embarrassment, looking away from her. "Leave a note or something next time."

"Okay." Her blue eyes beamed.

"Leila, you didn't get injured right?" Erin was frantically checking the girl for scratches or bruises.

"I'm fine Erin," she said with slight laughter, peeling the worried medical assistant away from her.

She looked like she wanted to say something else but was cut off by the loud stomping of boots against wood as the rest of the Heart pirates made their way to the deck of the submarine.

"Leila-chan…You came back for us!"

"We missed you so much Leila-chan!"

_"WELCOME HOME LEILA-CHAN!" _

"Home…" Leila repeated, her eyes slightly dazed. The firm hand of the head mechanic came to a rest on her slender shoulder.

"You're a part of the family now," Blake assured her with kindness. "If you don't believe me then look at the idiots cheering loudly for you over there. This submarine is now just as much your home as anyone else in this crew."

"I don't know about that…" Her voice trailed off as she hesitated.

"It's okay for you to say it. You don't need to hesitate," he assured her. "Everyone already sees you as family here."

"In that case…" She looked up at the pirate crew and smiled brightly. "I'm home."

Law glanced at her face from the corner of his eye as he stood in the shadow of the doorway of the submarine, silently watching the scene before him unfold. The girl's eyes sparkled under the sunlight as she happily conversed with his medical assistant, navigator, first mate, and head mechanic. The girl wore an expression of genuine happiness and something about that annoyed Law. She never smiled that way when she was with him, yet did so very openly with his crew.

Law removed the troublesome thought from his mind and smirked.

The girl had a tendency to disobey him and begin arguments. However, even a wild lion can be tamed by a lion tamer. Her fierily personality and rebellious behaviour provided a good opportunity to kill some boredom. There was no one he couldn't control. All he needed to do was make the girl his and she too would be dancing in the palm of his hand.

"Leila," he faintly called out loud, tasting the name on his lips. "How long will you be able to resist me?"


	17. An Uneasy Feeling

Author's Note:

Slowly making progress…I'm trying my best to pull the story along. Even though I already have the entire main concept of it completed, filling in the gaps/details takes a while so I hope my speed isn't too horrid. Sometimes I catch myself thinking the life of a novice writer is hard xD  
Oh, next chapter we finally get some action again! yay :3

Side note: _okasan _means mother and _otosan_ means father.

Rakuen91: Don't worry, I love having my mistakes pointed out! Yes, I stated at the top of chapter 2 that I have seen the word spelled as "belly" but it just looks a bit strange to me whenever I read it so I altered the spelling in this story to "belli" (Hopefully it doesn't bother you too much, but I don't think the word will be used enough to get really annoying either way)

* * *

**An Uneasy Feeling**

_"Pitter patter, pitter patter, watch the blood fall. Pitter patter, pitter patter, as it taints you a lovely crimson glow. Oh my dearest, if you love me then show me! Oh if you love me, then won't you die for me? Pitter patter, pitter patter, I see your blood on the floor. Pitter patter, pitter patter, I want you to bleed some more!" _

"Kali, must you really sing such a morbid song? How about something on a bit of a happier note?"

The dark skinned woman named Kali looked at her male companion and pouted. "But Douglas, I can't help it when I'm in such a good mood." She brought out a knife from the folds of her kimono and let her tongue slide over the cold steel.

"Have you forgotten that the orders are to bring the girl back alive?"

"I'm sure she won't die if I cut her up a bit. Ahh, just imagining the sensation of slicing flesh open, the metallic taste of blood…I'm already getting this excited! What kind of scream do you think she has?" An erotic look twisted her features.

"You really are too much of a sadist. Master has rubbed off on you," the raven haired man replied.

"But I could never be as wonderful as master. The way he slowly dissects his prey inch by inch," the woman let out a breathless shudder, "it's wonderful. Such a beautiful sight…why can't those lovely, slender fingers touch me as well?"

"You should probably be grateful they don't. Most of the prey dies shortly afterwards," the man stated flatly. Unlike his partner, Douglas knew better than to deviate to closely to his master's madness. The man was twisted and cruel. Sometimes he wondered if he harboured any humanity at all. Kali however, was completely infatuated with him, nearly to the point of wanting to be the next prey herself. She too was a creature of madness, and perhaps it was this very feature which the master adored so much about her.

"I heard the girl has a pretty face." Kali's lips formed a frightening smile. "I hate it when their pretty. I think I'll give her a few scars before we hand her over. Or perhaps I should slice off a few precious fingers instead?" The woman let the knife make a small cut on the tip of her tongue, the taste of her own blood filling her mouth. "Delightful, oh this mission will be simply delightful!"

Douglas remained silent. Sometimes Kali frightened him. He wondered if she would kill him in his sleep for simple amusement, or to see how many jars she could fill with his blood. He had seen her do it sometimes to her previous victims. It was an image horrifying enough to evoke nightmares.

"We must wait until the girl is alone." Douglas focused his eyes on the small speck of yellow in the distance. "There are too many with her right now."

"Why can't we just slice all of them up? As long as we get the girl master won't care."

"Two against over twenty are unappealing odds."

"And zero times infinity is still zero. Those worthless shits couldn't stop me even if they multiplied." The woman's tone was smug. Douglas let out an inward sigh. She was unreasonable when it came time to a mission, unreasonable because she thirsted for bloodshed.

"It is better to wait until she is separated if we wish to finish the mission more quickly. I'm sure master will be pleased the sooner he can see you."

This appealed to Kali greatly. "Oh, my sweet Gail-sama…I want to see him. Alright, let's wait for the girl to wander off on her own. Then the fun can truly begin."

An icy breeze picked up pace on the winter island, clawing at the pair standing on the snow covered hill, but the thing that chilled Douglas the most was the horrible sound of Kali's erratic laughter echoing in his ears.

* * *

"Captain, what did you call me into your room for?" Leila eyed the pirate captain wearily, feeling uncomfortable being alone with him. His grey eyes scanned over her and she stiffened slightly as he wordlessly traced over the figure of her body.

"Ms. Leila…remove all your items of clothing."

The statement was startling and made her chest tighten with discomfort, but she stilled her breathing and kept her face emotionless.

"For what purpose are you making such a rash demand?"

Law smirked. It was a simple act but enough to make Leila already want to flee the room. His smile was always a bad omen. The pirate captain reached out and captured the tip of her chin. He leaned down and whispered five simple words into her ear.

"I will make you mine."

The sensation of his warm breath against her ear sent a strange sensation down her spine. His touch lingered on her skin far longer than she liked.

"You…What are you saying?" She looked at him with a fierce gaze, not wanting to lose to this man.

"Isn't it obvious?" The smirk hadn't left his face for a moment. "Or would you rather I show you?"

He pressed his body against her, the touch sending an electric rush throughout her body despite the clothing that came between them.

"Stop!" She tried to keep her voice from shaking, but the feeling of his touch was overwhelming.

"Why? You like it don't you?" He leaned down and let his tongue sensually slide over the corner of her mouth, making the blood rush to her face. "I've already told you…you will become mine."

_Ba-dump…ba-dump…ba-dump… _

Leila looked into his grey eyes with a horrified expression. He was like a storm that was trying to sweep her away. Why was her heart racing? Wait, was that still possible when she had it removed? But that wasn't what mattered…she needed to calm down and stand her ground; do something before he tried to kiss her again. He continued to lean into her, his face coming even closer. No! He was going to do it again! She had to stop him before-"

Pain. A horrible pain was quickly spreading like poison throughout her body. Leila groaned and shifted her body, trying to ease herself into a less painful position on the wooden floor. She opened her eyes slowly and started at the ceiling of her room, a sigh escaping her lips.

A dream. So none of it had been real…but it hadn't felt that way at all. She shifted herself into a sitting position and waited for the pain to subside. She never thought the day would come when she'd actually be grateful for falling out of a bed and smashing into a hard, wooden floor but lately most of her life wasn't making much sense.

Trafalgar Law…even thinking about him made her stomach churn over and now she was dreaming about him doing strange things to her? No, it wasn't weird of her be having disturbing dreams. After all, roughly a day ago the man really had kissed her.

"Bastard," she mumbled under her breath.

It's not like she had never been kissed before. She had a few times, but the problem was that the kisses she had experienced in the past had never made her feel the way Law had. The places he touched her felt like they were being set on fire and an almost electric shock travelled throughout her entire body, down to her very fingertips. It was like her body was acting out of its own accord…Was that normal? Maybe the medicine he gave her had done something to make her body have a stronger reaction than it should have, but the possibility seemed unlikely.

She looked down at the golden pendent around her neck and gently lifted it up. Carefully opening it, the inside revealed a picture of a man, woman, and small child. The man, her father, had the same startling blue eyes she did and beautiful silver hair. Her mother had long brown hair and green eyes. The couple held up an unruly nine year old version of her. On the other side, engraved in the golden metal, were the words _"Be strong Leila."_ Gazing at the old picture, she let her lips form a weary smile.

"Okasan, otosan, I feel like I may have gotten involved in something troublesome again."

Closing the pendent and tucking it back under her shirt, she began stripping out of her sleepwear. She let her thoughts drift aimlessly as she got ready for the day. The episodes were getting worse with each passing day and the medicine hidden in her bag was almost completely depleted. She had been worried about needing to offer up some kind of explanation in case one of the crew found her in middle of an episode, but fortunately she had lucked out enough that Law had believed she was suffering from a simple fever-probably due to the fact she had been out in the cold for so long. However, if he caught her in that state a second time, there was no guarantee she would get out of it as easily as the first. She needed to hurry.

Yet, despite the fact that she was trying to move as quickly as possible, sometimes it felt like she was taking one step forward only to take another two steps back. It was frustrating. It made her want to scream. To top it off, besides that increased frequency and intensity of the episodes, there was also the matter of the meeting she had had with Yue. "_There are others who are here."_

Leila frowned. What had she meant by that? Exactly who else was here? Although Leila could only, at best, call Yue an acquaintance and their relationship had never been smooth, she doubted the woman was lying to her. It wasn't her persona to do such a thing. However, if Yue was being truthful, it meant she was heading into dangerous territory since the majority of people she knew were enemies rather than friends. _"…I'm sure you will meet them soon."_

Exhaling another sigh, she exited her room and headed towards the kitchen. Something told her today might be a long day.

* * *

Breakfast had been rowdy as usual. Today's menu had consisted of scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, blueberry waffles, glazed cinnamon buns, French toast panini with grilled bananas, and breakfast croquettes. The work was tiresome but familiar, giving it a comforting feel. At the very least, it helped to silence the uneasy feeling that was slowly growing in the back of her mind. With the crew clearing out of the diner now Leila was slowly making progress in scrubbing down all the counters and cleaning up the kitchen. She was about to collect the remaining dirty dishes from the tables when Scot approached her.

"Leila, don't cha worry 'bout this cleaning business," Scot interrupted, grabbing the cleaning cloth from her hands. "Ya already put in some good work this morning. Take a break." He jerked his thumb in the direction of the exist, indicating for her to leave the rest to him.

"But there's still a lot to do," she argued. "Won't you have a hard time on your own?"

"Come now lass, this amount of work ain't too much for this old man," he reassured her. "Why not do some shopping for me instead? We got a couple of supplies that been running a bit low these days." Reaching into the front pocket of his dirty apron, he revealed a paper with a small list of items needed for the kitchen scribbled in messy handwriting. He handed the paper to her and gave her a nod.

"Alright." Leila offered her cooking partner a small smile. She would normally be very happy to be relieved of kitchen chores, but today something was urging her to stay, screaming at her fiercely to continue cleaning the diner. She didn't have a reason to be this on edge though, so she reluctantly pushed the thoughts that were haunting her away. "Leave it to me," she concluded, tucking the paper into her pocket.

With that being said, Leila headed out of the diner and made her way into the small winter town on her own.

* * *

Walking through the town, her breath formed small clouds as it condensed upon exposure to the cold air. The snow beneath her feet gave way as her footprints left dents in their white surface. Looking at the smiling faces of the townsfolk that passed her by with distant eyes, she continued to make her way towards a food stand. The stand was small and cramped with various items balanced on the surface of a wooden pushcart. The middle aged woman behind the chart called out to her.

"Good morning," she happily said, the corners of her mouth pushed up into a smile. Leila looked at the woman and pasted on a plastic smile of her own.

"Morning," she responded. "Do you have any of the items on this list?" She dug into her pocket and pulled out the sheet of paper Scot had given her.

"Oh, why yes," she answered, taking the list and quickly skimming the list. "I have most of the items right here at my stand but the only one on the island that sells spices is old Mr. Kenji."

"Do you know where I can find him," Leila asked.

"He lives over that hill outside the town. You might want to be careful though. The path that goes to his house is very isolated and passes through a dead forest. If you get hurt it would be difficult for anyone to find you."

Leila wordlessly paid the woman for the small assortment of breads, cheeses, and meat she had purchased. Picking up the bag she turned and started to walk in the direction the woman had pointed.

"Ah…" She looked over her shoulder to glance back at the woman. "Thanks for the directions."

Not bothering to wait to hear the woman's response, she continued to walk towards the spice merchant's house. She might have wanted to bring someone along with her after hearing the house was located outside the town, but she was feeling much better after taking a sip of her dwindling supply of medicine. At the very least, if she was attacked she now had the energy to defend herself.

_Attacked…?_

Leila frowned to herself. Why had she thought such a thing? Exactly who would try to attack her in such a small, peaceful town? It didn't make sense, and yet she was getting that feeling now…Her senses were on edge and she was even more acutely aware of the bundles of chi surrounding her than normal. The small children playing behind the buildings, the townsfolk she passed by, the ones still inside their homes, the birds flying overhead, and the nearly lifeless forest of trees that had been stripped bare by the constant touch of the harsh winter cold.

Magnificent braches reached up and covered the sky, intertwining into an endless web. The uneasy feeling her chest continued to poke at the corners of her mind, but she remained adamant in ignoring it. She could sense it-a dangerous chi lurking in the forest, waiting for her arrival. She knew something was there, but if she let it dominant her then she would never be able to move forward. That's right…if fear and unease had controlled her before then she would be dead right now. Life, death, happiness, sorrow…they all went hand in hand. The bittersweet reality was that sometimes you had to risk dying if you wanted to continue living.

With a heavy heart and an unwavering step, she entered the forest.

* * *

Kali was ecstatic, her senses tingling. Her hand clenched around the knife she held in her hand, an absurdly large star-shaped shuriken in her other hand. The girl had come. She had finally come to her. Kali let out a shudder of excitement. She licked her lips as the thought of the hunt enveloped her, controlled her. The taste of blood, the rush of killing or being killed, the sweat of sweet flesh moving to be captured or to escape a cruel fate…It was glorious.

From the corner of her eye she noticed her partner stare at the shadows of the braches without expression. He didn't speak or share her excitement, but that was because Douglas was weak. Douglas hated to kill, but she was different. Superior to him. It was because she was strong that she had been granted the authority to kill. It was because she was worthy of power that it had been entrusted to her. Why did she need to care about the weak that just scrambled to do nothing but survive?

Humans were ugly creatures. She hated them. A mother would sacrifice her child if she thought it would save her own life. She would beg and grovel, betray her husband and whatever else it took, if it meant survival. All humans were like that. Friendship or love, it was all an illusion. People hated her and called her a monster because she didn't play pretend with them. She shattered their illusions and cut open a path of cold truth.

Her senses perked as her kenbunshoku haki picked up on some movement. A branch had broken as it was stepped on. The girl had finally entered the forest. She hadn't even needed to drag her out because she had come to them. Either the girl was incredibly stupid or outrageously arrogant for thinking she could challenge them.

A horrible laughter escaped Kali's lips. She felt her partner look at her, but she ignored his stare. Her muscles tensed and her breathing picked up pace. It was time.

"Let the hunt begin."


	18. Ambush

Author's Note:

Sorry for the delayed update everyone! Unfortunately I had writer's block for a little while and things are getting kinda hectic with uni restarting. To add to everything I got sick for a little while, but I'm doing my best to slug through it all somehow.

Last chapter I introduced Kali and Douglas. Kali is intended to be pretty creepy so if you got that vibe then mission successful! As for Douglas's character…I guess we'll have to wait to see exactly what kind of person he is. Anyways, on with the what-I-hope-is-sort-of-an-exciting battle scene! *cue dramatic music* Okay, not really…but I tried.

Side notes:  
Nakama = friend, comrade, etc.  
FYI = for your information (this one should be obvious though)  
Kunai/shuriken = if you watched Naruto and don't know what this is you failed at life or google damnit

* * *

**Ambush**

Kali easily jumped from tree to tree, her years of training as a ninja and assassin making the task a complete joke. Her swift moment quickly left Douglas behind, but she had already told him to not interfere. His soft personality would only slow her down. She knew that Douglas was always too kind and he might show the girl some sympathy. She didn't want to give the girl even the slightest opportunity for freedom.

Kali was careful to avoid making even the slightest sound as she navigated through the branches of the trees for fear of the wind carrying the noise and alerting her victim of her presence. She felt her legs surge with power as she continued to make large jumps horizontally. She was starting to feel her pulse quicken with each passing moment as the excitement of the hunt washed over her, engulfing her and all she was. Right now she was no longer Kali. She was a hunter on the prowl for her next prey.

Her kenbunshoku haki guided her until she was only a short distance from her prey. Hidden behind the trunk of a large tree, she quietly observed the girl that was struggling to get through the thick forest undergrowth while balancing a few large bags in her arms. She had silky, long brown hair that came down to her waist, pale skin, and expressive blue eyes. The girl was indeed as pretty as she had heard, and this fact alone was enough to fill Kali with cold hatred for the girl.

The disgusting cunt had probably lived a sheltered, happy life. With her looks, she had probably passed her time by playing around with men and getting them to buy her expensive trinkets. One day she grew tired living in a boring routine and probably ran away from home to become a pirate…or perhaps the pirates had actually taken her hostage and they wanted to ransom her for money? Either way, Kali had difficulty understanding what her precious Gail-sama wanted with this girl. She looked too scrawny and pathetic to even put up a half decent fight. In fact, the sole challenge of this mission would probably be to not accidentally kill the bitch.

She frowned, trying to think of a plan. After all, assassins were trained to kill and all her weapons were designed to cause extensive damage that would usually be one-hit kills. It would be easier if she knew how much skill the girl had. Could she even dodge a simply attack? Losing patience, Kali decided to make her move. If the girl died she wouldn't be worth Gail-sama's time in the first place.

Her fist clenched around her knife. She pulled her arm back and with a powerful, swift swing she sent the blade flying towards the girl's left leg. Blue eyes quickly turned and took in the image of the dangerous steel knife closing in on her. Leaping backwards the girl managed to narrowly avoid the knife from striking her leg. She put the bags she was carrying securely next to a tree trunk and curiously examined her surroundings.

"Show yourself," she demanded in a cold tone.

Kali snickered at the girl's authority. So the girl was acting all high and mighty because she could dodge a simple knife throw? She would teach her a painful lesson for underestimating her. At a breakneck pace Kali silently changed her position so was now behind the girl again. Once in position she viciously flung her oversized star shaped shuriken, which she had been holding in her other hand. The girl noticed the deadly weapon at the last second. She tried to run but stumbled and fell to the ground, the shuriken flying a centimeter over her head and slicing straight through ten trees before coming to a stop. Kali let out a menacing laugh and revealed herself.

"Oh, what a lucky little girl you are indeed," she said in a harsh tone that didn't match the plastic smile she wore. "If you hadn't tripped who knows what would have happened to you?" She continued to laugh loudly, the forest vibrating with the echo.

Blue eyes glared at her. "Who are you," the girl asked.

"Why, I'm your worst nightmare. Isn't that obvious?" With a split second of finishing her sentence Kali dug into the folds of her kimono and flung a mixture of five shuriken and some kunai. The girl was faster than Kali had predicted though. She was quick enough to recede even deeper into the forest so that the thick clutter of tree trunks shielded her from the weapons. Annoyed, Kali swore under her breath and ran after her into the forest.

"Trying to run away? How pathetic! Just stop wasting both our time already. I've never lost to anyone before," she yelled out while chasing the girl.

"Leila," the girl responded.

"What?" Kali glared at girl's back in confusion.

"My name. Remember it."

"Why the hell should I give half a shit about what your name is?!"

"Because I'm going to be the first person you lose to."

Kali's eyes dangerously narrowed and she felt herself boiling over with anger.

"You arrogant little bitch! I was only going to play around with you a bit before capturing you but now I think I'll gouge your eyes out and cut off both your hands and feet first!" She dug into the folds of kimono once more and summoned up a shower of black shuriken and kunai. The girl however, knew how to expertly use the landscape to her advantage. The trees were making it a lot harder for Kali to strike the girl with one of her weapons.

"Is that the best you've got? A five year old could aim better! And by the way, I'd rather be a bitch than a geisha with an ugly tan."

By this point, Kali's anger was reaching to insurmountable heights. Suddenly, something on the ground caught her attention. When she was finally close enough to see the object, she realized what was embedded in the soil was the oversized black shuriken she had thrown earlier. The brat had lead in her a wild goosechase and come back full circle! What the hell was the point?! Pissed off that she had just completely wasted her time, Kali picked up her shuriken. She threw it a second time, but this time her aim wasn't the girl.

The shuriken travelled in a semicircle and easily cut down all the surroundings trees. It came back in an arc and she caught it like a boomerang. The girl had also stopped running now and was staring at her from afar. Now that the annoying trees had been clear cut the girl was probably panicking. The thought made Kali snicker.

"There's nowhere to run anymore," Kali said, the corners of her lips curled up into a twisted smile. "Now, what will you do? If you try to run again without any shelter my weapons will easily cut you down from behind. If you fight me I'll torture you until you start begging for me to end your miserable existence. Either way, you've lost little girl."

"We'll see about that."

The girl's blue eyes were intense. Kali couldn't help but stare into them. There was something about the way the girl was looking staring at her though…something about the way her eyes flickered. Kali slowly began to realize the girl was analyzing her, examining every little movement she made and the purpose behind it. The way her eyes seemed to pierce right through her left Kali feeling exposed and sent a shiver down her spine. Suddenly her original assumption of a pretty, rich girl didn't seem to fit anymore. Those eyes didn't seem human…they almost seemed like the glare of a demon that had lured its prey into its trap. Who the hell was this girl? Why did Gail-sama want her?

_Get a grip damnit! _

That's right, she had no reason to loss her cool. She was Kali, the best assassin in the underworld. She had never lost a battle before and it wasn't going to change now because of some stupid, overconfident girl. She was the one in control of this battle. The girl had done nothing but run away this entire time.

Kali was torn away from her thoughts when she saw movement from the corner of her eye. She looked up and saw nothing but a blur moving towards her. A blur…? With horror filled eyes she realized that the blur was actually the girl charging at her so quickly that her eyes were unable to keep up with her movement. She looked down and saw what she presumed were the girl's fingers moving over different points on her body. Within less than a split second the girl was gone. She was now standing where she was before, like she had never moved from that spot at all. Kali blinked a few times, trying to take in what had just happened. The entire incident had happened so quickly that Kali wasn't even sure if she had imagined it or not. When she saw surprise creep onto the face of the girl in front of her, everything finally made sense.

"You tried to chi block me, didn't you?" Kali's face broke out into a wide grin. "Unfortunately for you, I'm a pro at my job. I already had intel about your abilities and came prepared well in advance." She dropped her large shuriken and took off her loosely tied kimono to reveal the armour she wore underneath. The girl across from her let out a shocked gasp.

Oh, how sweet that sound was! She was afraid. The girl was finally afraid of her like the way she should have been from the very start. The sound of the shocked gasp sent bolts of ecstasy through Kali's veins. She threw her head back and let out a howl of crazed laughter.

"That's right, all your techniques are useless against me! You have nothing to fight me with! All you can do is stand there helplessly like a lamb about to be slaughtered. Are you afraid? Are you trembling?" Kali took loud another blade and let her tongue slide over the cold steel. "Ahh, I can't wait to cut you open. Let me hear it ok? It me hear what kind of scream you have! Let me see what kind of face you make when you cry! Let me taste what kind of blood you have." Her eyes held a dangerous glow.

The girl across from Kali didn't say a word, silently observing her erratic behaviour. She took a deep breath, slowing inhaling and exhaling. Before Kali had the opportunity to charge at her with her knife the figure of the girl blurred once more. She sped forward at a pace that nearly left her figure invisible to the naked eye and continued in a cycle, charging towards kali, retreating, and charging at her once more in a repeating pattern. Kali simply continued to laugh horrendously with her head thrown back.

"It doesn't matter how many times you try your chi blocking on me," she screamed. "Go ahead. Keep wasting your time by trying over and over. You're about to be on the border of death anyways."

Tired of waiting for the girl, Kali grew impatient and lunged forward. She swung the knife in an arc, hoping to connect with flesh. However, she was only met with simple air. Annoyed that she had missed, Kali cursed under her breath. The bitch was fast, she'd give her that much. Her speed had suddenly increased again and she was now dashing so quickly that Kali could barely see her at all. However, two could play at that game.

Kali also began sprinting at her max speed. Her body arced forward as she forcefully cut through the air resistance, her raven hair looking like a black streak moving across the horizon. Kali's eyes scanned her surroundings and she caught a faint glimpse of blue.

_ There she is!_

She lunged forward and swung out once again. Had she hit the girl? It was hard to tell when they were both moving at such a fast pace. As Kali and the girl continued their dance around the clearing she had made with her shuriken, Kali noticed a blob of red on the ground. It was blood.

So had had managed to successfully cut the girl after all. Seeing this gave Kali more energy. She had finally managed to slice the brat and was feeling good about it. Her eyes were now also adjusting to the speed and it was getting easier for her to follow the movements of her opponent. She saw the girl's movement beginning to slow down and the red streak on the front of her white shirt became easily visible. With another lung Kali closed in the girl once more. Another splatter of blood fell on the ground.

The girl was now kneeled over in front of Kali while holding onto her sides. The sight of the girl in pain was enough to make her euphoric. She erupted into another crazed fit of laughter, but something caught her attention and caused her to stop. The girl was watching her with a wide smirk on her face.

"You…What are you smirking about you damn brat?! Want me to go over there and cut you again?"

The girl in front of her stood up and revealed the black kunai she had been secretly holding in her right hand. The tip of the blade was dripping something red…blood. Kali frowned and looked at her own knife. The edge was perfectly clean. She then looked down at her torn up clothes.

With an anguished cry she realized the blood drenching the ground beneath her feet was her own.

* * *

Leila watched her dark skinned attacker fall to the ground and howl like a wounded animal. She was pressing her hand against her wounds and staring wide eyed at the blood at seemed to continuously pour out of her. The red, life-sustaining liquid stained her clothes and dripped down the sides of her legs and arms, only to be absorbed by the forest floor.

"But…I…H-how could this..?" The assassin stared at her trembling, red hands in utter bewilderment.

Leila almost felt sorry for her. At the very least she owed the woman an explanation. She held up her left hand so it was easily visible to the woman. The tips of her fingers suddenly transformed black, like they were now made out of solid metal lead instead of flesh and blood.

"Busoshoku haki," the assassin stated, staring at the black fingertips with surprise. Leila nodded.

"I'm able to control my haki to harden my fingertips for special situation like these. When my fingers are like this even piercing armor isn't too difficult. The first time I tried to chi block you I was caught off guard because I didn't expect you to having protection under your kimono. The second time I chi blocked you I used my haki to poke holes in your armor in very specific places. After all, if I did too much damage at once you would notice right away. The third time I used chi blocking on you I stimulated your body to close the large voltage-gated channels in your spine so you were unable to feel any pain. The purpose of running around full circle was to pick up one of your kunai while making it all look like I was running away. As for the shocked gasp and tripping carelessly-it was all an act to help feed your overconfidence."

"But…the blood stain on your shirt…"

Leila took the kunai she was still holding in her right hand and whipped it on her white shirt, leaving another red streak. "I did the same thing to get the first stain. I'm not sure if you realized but I was wearing a black jacket before. Didn't it seem odd that I suddenly threw my jacket away?"

"Why did you?" The assassin was clearly still unable to comprehend the elaborate way she had been completely outmaneuvered.

"The red blood stain would be difficult to see on a black jacket, especially compared to a white shirt. I needed you to see the stain so you would think I got cut."

"Then the reason you slowed down your movements in the battle..."

"...Was to make it easier for you to see the stain-correct. Between the combinations of the blood stain on my shirt, the fact I had chi blocked you so you couldn't feel pain, and your overconfidence, you didn't even realize that I was cutting you with your own kunai while tricking you into believing the blood was mine. You underestimated me assassin. You thought you were ambushing me when in reality I was the one setting a trap for you."

"Why go through the trouble of cutting me? Why not just chi block me so I was unconscious?"

"Because I needed to evaluate your strength. After all, I still need to deal with your friend hiding two meters southeast in the tree branches. By the way, you can come out now." Leila looked at the place where the person was concealed with cold, blue eyes. A raven haired man jumped down from the branches of the trees and landed lightly on his feet a few meters away.

"You let your guard down Kali," he stated emotionlessly, staring at his fallen comrade.

"Shut up Douglas. If you knew what was going on you would have jumped in to help," she spat back in anger.

"That's true. I didn't realize what she was up to at all. I underestimated her as well."

Leila walked over to the woman named Kali and kicked her so she fell to her side. With flawless movement she brought the kunai to the woman's throat and stared at the man in boredom.

"You bitch," Kali hissed.

"Shut up," Leila retorted. "You talk too much. As for you," she stared at the woman's companion, "tell me who you work for."

"And if I don't?" He raised a brow while starting back in equal boredom.

"The woman gets beheaded, so I suggest you start talking." She narrowed her eyes dangerously.

"Douglas, you better not tell her shit or I'll rip your dick off," Kali shrieked.

"I thought I told you to shut up," Leila responded icily. With a swift movement of her fingers over the woman's back, Kali fell unconscious. With that settled, Leila shifted her gaze back to the man. "Now, Douglas was it? Tell me who sent you."

"No."

"I'll kill her."

"Go ahead," he said without hesitation. "Kali would actually kill me later if I said anything to you and I never really trusted her to be my partner to begin with. No matter how I look at, it works out better for me if you kill her."

Leila sighed and stood up.

"So, you're the type of scum to abandon your nakama without a second thought, huh? I guess I should have known better."

Without another word, she got up and charged at Douglas. He began to move left to dodge her attack but Leila had already predicted he would move out of the way. She easily shifted her weight to her hands and swung her legs in a circle to trip him. Douglas smashed into the snow face first and Leila quickly shifted herself so she was standing upright again. She turned him over with a kick and stepped on his stomach with her right foot. Leaned forward on her leg, she brought the kunai to his neck.

"Now that it's your life on the line instead of hers, what will you do?"

"Like I said, Kali will kill me after if I say anything. Therefor it makes no difference if you finish me here."

"Then I'll give you some incentive. Tell me what I want and I'll kill her but let you go. That works out better for you, doesn't it?"

The man froze. He didn't seem to have anything to counter her with.

"You know, I can tell when you're lying," Leila stated without much thought. "The chi around people flares up whenever someone tells a lie. The instant you tried to pass off that woman as annoying I knew she was important to you."

The man signed in defeat. He really didn't have a way of countering this woman at this point.

"The organization is known as the Syndakit. It's run by someone who goes by the alias Shiki. I don't know who he really is. I've never met him and I don't know of anyone who has either. We simply have our orders passed down to us. As for why the organization wants you, I don't know. Kali was pretty pissed about it actually."

"Do you always risk your life working for an organization you don't know much about," Leila questioned sarcastically. The man simply moved his shoulders in a semi-shrug.

"I'm just a grunt at the bottom of the food chain. No one needs to tell me anything," he answered.

"What is the purpose of the Syndakit? You should at least know that much."

"To create a world of peace."

"How noble."

"You seem skeptical of our purpose."

"You're telling me that they'd let me go alive after they used me to fulfill their goal?"

"Probably not."

"How can you call 'peace' build upon a foundation of murder and death _real_ peace?"

"Sometimes sacrifices need to be made for the greater good."

"A sacrifice that demands for the innocent to die to preserve the lives of others is hypocritical and counterproductive to the preservation of peace," Leila countered. "Well, not that I care about your useless organization and its ideals. Tell me though, why are both you and your partner wearing these lovely silver collars around your neck." She tapped the kunai against the one Douglas's was wearing, which made him stare at her with wide eyes. "They seem a bit too bulky to be a fashion statement."

"All Syndakit members wear this." The man seemed hesitant to continue.

"Why?"

"…"

"Douglas," Leila called, twirling the kunai in her hand. "I didn't strike any vital points, but if you don't hurry up your friend will bleed to death." She pointed to Kali, who was now lying in a puddle of blood. Hearing this Douglas began to panic.

"So no one betrays the Syndakit. If they find out anyone has all they need to do is push a button to get rid of them."

"How will pushing a button do that?"

"The collar is a bomb. Even attempting to take it off is enough to make it detonate."

No wonder he had seemed so nervous when she had tapped the kunai against it. With a sigh Leila got up and released the man.

"Grab your friend and go. I doubt I can get anything else out of you that might be of use."

"You're…not going to kill us?" He looked at her in confusion.

Leila ran a hand through her long brown hair and flung the kunai to the other side of the clearing. "Killing isn't really my forte so I guess you lucked out. Besides, I have more important things to be doing right now-like buying spices before my crazy captain thinks I'm trying to run away or something. FYI, if you ever run into him in the future, you should avoid getting him angry. Unlike me, he's a psycho who would probably carve all your organs out for fun." The words she was saying were menacing but she had a kind smile on her face as she spoke them.

The man wordlessly got up and walked over to Kali. He gently lifted her up in his arms bridal style and disappeared into the forest. Leila watched the pair leave. The two hadn't seemed menacing enough, so perhaps the uneasy feeling she had been getting was because of the Syndakit? If they had wanted her badly enough to send an assassin then they would probably continue to send people after her until they successfully captured her.

"Well, no point worrying about that right now," she stated out loud to an empty forest.

She stretched her arms up to relax her tense muscles and shivered slightly as the cold breeze blew over her. She had almost forgotten about how cold the winter island was. That's right, what she really needed to do right now was find her jacket and groceries, finish buying the spices, and probably come up with one hell of an excuse to tell Law for when she got back.


End file.
